I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget
by Silent.Embrace
Summary: 30 years have past since the gang became gennin. A new generation of Sannins have come forth. A 'blind' Hyuuga was born. And a young killer has come to Konoha, though she doesn't come just to kill. Konoha can't forget her father, but can they forgive her?
1. Chapter 1

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING BUT HAJIMI AND HITONOMI AND ALL THE OTHER OC CHARACTERS!

* * *

Hajimi heard the voices as soon as he entered the room.

"Hey, I know him!"

"Who?"

"Him. He's the only Hyuuga in history to NOT get the Byakugan."

"Really?"

"Yeah, fersher."  
These rumors were completely true, if you ignore the one about his parents dropping an elephant on him to try to "wake up" his Byakugan. Hyuuga Hajimi had blue eyes. Not the solid blue one might expect from a whole new Bloodline Limit, but the blue trapped between a black pupil and white outside that most forms of genetic drift are so fond of. Hajimi had never even recieved the curse given to all Branch members of the Hyuuga family. In the fashion of the Hyuugas, his black hair was pulled back over his ears and reached his shoulders. For his attire, he wore a white t-shirt and shorts with black strips edging each garment. Sandles were on his feet.  
He had made it until the last year of the Academy. To tell the truth, though, last year should have been his last year. His mother had been in a bad mood that day. He couldn't have left her alone. Not even to save himself another year of schooling.

* * *

A young girl of no more than 15 smirked as she walked up to the cowering ninja. He had severe wounds, but wouldn't have them for long if she had her way.

"You're a devil, Hitonomi." said the ninja. She laughed.

"A Devil? I doubt that is what my dear old father had in mind for his prodigy. I believe he was going more for demon. After all, I am a snake demon." She said. Her voice, one of her most misleading features, sounded like honey. She laughed again. "Just like him!" She exclaimed happily. The ninja slowly went for his kunai as she was laughing. Next thing he knew was another kunai going through his palm, pinning his hand to the tree behind him. He yelled out in agony. Hitonomi laughed again. The ninja glared at her and gasped. His kunai was held in her tongue! She laughed again as she took the kunai into her hand and her tongue returned to her mouth. "A good ninja is never caught off her guard." He said, as if to mock him. And it was working.

"Hitonomi, please, I beg of you!" the ninja exclaimed. She tilted her head to one side and looked at the man wild mild interest.

"Beg? You degrade yourself to beg? Oh how disappointing. Now, I'm afraid I must kill you." Hitonomi said with a falsely sweet tone. The man paled.

"Hitonomi!" He yelled. She laughed as she pulled out a sword. One that the ninja world would be slow to forget. Kusanagi.

"You're receiving an honor! You're the first person I've killed with my father's blade. You get to usher in a new era!" She said happily. She smirked at him, the blade reflecting in her eyes, along with the same look her father had. A terrible scream rang through the forest. Hitonomi chuckled as she sheathed kusanagi. Blood splatters now covered her and the area around her. She smirked as she began to strip down to her black cat suit. It went down just past her knees, and had no sleeves. Her pale skin, though with more color than her father, was almost ghostly. Her long, slightly wavy midnight black hair(with a tint of blue) was pinned on top of her head with a few strands framing her face. She strapped a kunai pouch to each thigh and put on a lopsided belt. Kusanagi lay on the lower side of the belt, her left, and a semi-automatic desert eagle in the holster on her right. A sound headband adorned her forehead. Next she pulled out a compact mirror and make-up out of her over-the-shoulder bag. After some more black liquid eyeliner, and some jade eye shadow, her golden serpent-like eyes were much more profound against her face, matching the boldness of her ruby lips. "Now," She said to no one as she put her lipstick and compact away," To finish what my father started in Konohagakure." And she turned and left the bleeding corpse and her bloody clothes behind her. Evidence is useless without any witnesses to say who it belongs to. Especially when the world doesn't know you exist.

* * *

This story was originally written on Quizilla by two people at once. However, my co-writer got bored with this story about seven chapters into the sequal so he gave all rights to Hajimi to me. I am transferring this story over. Please note that quizilla is retarded and had a habbit of deleting spaces in between words. So if you see those, that's why. I didn't catch them all since I was working on them at midnight. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Hajimi had grown used to the tauntings in his old class. The trouble with this one is that they hadn't had the chance to learn when to stop. Every person, in the history of the Academy, that challenged Hajimi to use his Byakugan inevitably got extremely ill. Most of today's class had gone home early- including the teacher. The sub that was brought in denounced it as a bug. No one ever suspected Hajimi. After all, he was a blind Hyuuga. A dud. No matter that he spent hours at a time reading through anatomy books. No matter that he trained five times as hard as any other member of his clan. No matter. A child with a name and no namesake was worse than average. He was a disappointment. But if there was one thing that was always an absolute in Hajimi's mind, it was that he would never live down to that expectation.

* * *

Hitonomi smirked as she walked through the forest. Killing that man really cheered her up. There was a new spring to her step as she headed to a small hut that she often used to avoid ANBU from many villages and other criminals. She pushed and went through the curtain that served as a door. When the world doesn't know you exist, who's going to invade your privacy?

"Natalia!" She called out. There was a disturbing silence, though it hasn't phased Hitonomi since she was 8. A hissing sound was heard And Hitonomi smiled the only true smile she possesses. A green, full grown, anaconda slithered into view. Her skin seemed to sparkle as the light bounced off her. Hitonomi kneeled down and offered the snake her arm. "There you are girl. I've missed you." Hitonomi said. The snake, Natalia, flicked her tongue to identify the scent, confirming that this was indeed her mistress. When she was satisfied, she slithered up her arm. At her elbow, Natalia switched to wrapping around Hitonomi's waist and up. She finally rested on Hitonomi's shoulders with the rest of the snake wrapping around her body. Hitonomi smiled and stood up straight. "Well Natalia, we're going to Konohagakure. I doubt anyone that remembers my father will be in any position to stop us from getting in. From then it will be a cake walk!" She exclaimed happily as she walked out of the hut. Without a look back Hitonomi started out towards the great city.

It was days before the young killer reached the peaceful city, but that didn't matter to Hitonomi. She figured, the longer she was out, the more convincing she would look. She yawned and then squealed as gates came into view. She took a deep breathe to get into character before stumbling up to the gates.

"Halt! Who are you? What do you want?" Called one of the guards shouted out to her. It was clearly a feminine, motherly voice. However, her identity was obscured by that damn ANBU mask. She had nice long blonde hair though. A feature that Hitonomi would later be able to identify her with.

"Please ma'am. I've been travelling for a long time. I just need a place to stay for a little while and then I'll be on my way." Hitonomi said, with obvious exhaustion in her voice. Not talking for several days can do that.

"Then why do you have all those weapons? And the dangerous anaconda?" She asked Hitonomi. Hitonomi sighed.

"The world isn't as safe as it used to be. You, as a ninja, would know this first hand, would you not?" Hitonomi asked. The ANBU seemed to be considering it, so Hitonomi decided to up her story a little bit. "You see, I had a brother. He was no ninja, but he had faith in _the goodness of people_ and it got him killed. I learned from his mistake to never go anywhere without the proper protection. Unfortunately, as a traveller, i never know what proper protection is. So i carry everything. The Anaconda? Natalia is my only companion now. She's my best friend." Hitonomi said, trying to fake sad. The truth was she had taken the life of the man who believed in the goodness in people, with Natalia's help. If he actually had a sister, she would never know. Hitonomi had to resist the urge to smirk as she felt the pitty radiating off the ANBU for her story. The ANBU nodded.

"Alright, you can go on in." she said. Hitonomi smiled, bowed and walked in. When she was a good distance from the gate, she giggled.

"Sentimental ninja are so easy to fool. Especially if they're parents!" She said to Natalia. Natalia hissed in, what seemed to be, aproval. Hitonomi smiled again and started walking around town. She was taking in the sights and identifying the various clans as she searched for a decent hotel. It was the sounds of fighting that took her off course to a practice area. Two young students were fighting. Hitonomi smiled as she recognized the Hyuuga fighting style, having fought several Hyuugas in her life. "Ah, another young Hyuuga. How fun." She whispered. Then the fighters turned around and Hitonomi gasped. The Hyuuga had blue eyes! "What's this? A Hyuuga with out a byakugan? Interesting..." She muttered as she watched. She smiled as she found she liked what she saw. The other fighter went in for a punch, and Hyuuga blocked it. Somehow, his OTHER arm was broken now! The hyuuga whispered something to his opponent, and then his opponent ran away. Hitonimi smiled and slowly clapped. "Marvelous!" She exclaim.


	3. Chapter 3

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Hajimi hit the ground hard. Shizou's left arm recoiled again and he watched his opponenet get up off the ground. Hajimi quickly straightened his nose and resumed the jyuuken stance. For several seconds, they watched each other until Hajimi made the first move. With a shout, he charged at Shizou, who blocked with his left arm. Twice more Hajimi attacked, hitting different spots, but Shizou felt each blow in his left arm. Gathering up his strength, he threw a finisher with his right arm. The net few seconds were clear. Hajimi smiled. He moved his hand up as if to block, although he wasn't nearly strong enough for it to count. Then Shizou's fist connected with Hajimi's hand, and the strength drained from the blow as a cry of pain errupted from his throat. Hajimi's smile grew wider as he moved around to whisper in Shizou's ear.  
"You'll want to head over to the hospital, Akimichi." He placed his hand on Shizou's left shoulder, making his opponent gasp. "Otherwise that arm might not heal right." Shizou paled, as if Hajimi had just issued a dire threat. Nodding, he began running- struggling to keep his broken arm straight. As Shizou faded from sight, the sound of clapping drifted into the area, along with a female voice issuing congratulations. He stiffened, wiping the blood from his nose away. "Who's there?" Hitonomi giggled at the Hyuuga's defensiveness.  
"Now really, is that anyway to greet a fan?" She asked sarcastically. She then disappeared, and reappeared in front of the Hyuuga. She leaned in towards him and stared at him. she smiled. "I _love_ your eyes." She said. Hajimi stood still, stunned.  
"Who are you?" Hitonomi giggled.  
"I am Hitonomi. Who are you, hyuuga?" she said sweetly.  
"Hajimi. Hyuuga Hajimi." He stared at her for a moment, allowing the chakra to begin to fade from his palms. "Why are you here?" She smiled and moved away from his face finally.  
"Wonderful to meet you, Hyuuga Hajimi!" She exclaimed, not answering his question. Natalia then hissed and slithered over Hitonomi's shoulder, becoming visible once again. Hajimi's eyes opened wide in shock, taking a step away from Hitonomi. But it seemed like it wasn't going to attack him, being perfectly comfortable around his new acquaintance. And she didn't seem quite like the idiots that he spent his days with. He had to know.  
"Where do you live?" Hitonomi smiled and then frowned. Natalia hissed again and Hitonomi smiled.  
"I live everywhere and nowhere. Why?" She said calmly.  
"I didn't recognize you," replied Hajimi. "And I'd think I would hear about a girl with a snake. Nowhere's not a very comfortable place to sleep. Do you have any plans at all?" Hitonomi put a finger to her chin and watched the clouds.  
"Well...Not really. Just meeting up with some of my father's old... _acquaintances_. However, they don't know i'm here. All I was doing before watching you kick ass was wander around looking for a hotel. It gets kinda hard, being a traveller, when you have to carry around a 50-pound anaconda on your shoulders everywhere you go." Hitonomi said. Hajimi thought through this. If she had someone to meet, then she should be safe enough. However, the fact that they didn't know about her and that her father didn't actually seem to be with her bothered him somewhat. His mother had raised him a certain way.  
"You can come over to my place, if you'd like. My mom... isn't feeling very well right now, so she won't care. And I don't really mind the snake much." Hitonomi smiled.  
"Thanks. That's very generous. And her name is Natalia!" she said cheerfully.

Eventually, they arrived at Hajimi's home. Before they went in, though, Hajimi turned to Hitonomi.  
"Just go along with it, ok? I'll explain after." Without going further into it, he opened the door. "MOM!?" A tall woman with Byakugan eyes came in from the hallway.  
"Yes, Haji? Oh, you've finally got yourself a girlfriend, I see!"  
"No, mom. Just a friend. She needs a place to stay for a bit and I invited her. Is it okay with you?"  
"Well, of course it's okay with me, but I'll have to ask your father when he gets back from his mission just to be sure." Hajimi nodded, smiling.  
"Alright. But for tonight at least?"  
"Of course, dear. She can stay in Kiko's room. Haji, you can bring the cradle into my room. I'm sure...?"  
"Hitonomi"  
"Hitonomi wouldn't enjoy being woken up in the middle of the night by her crying."  
"Okay, mom. I'll do that right away." He led the way to the bedroom with the cradle in it, and lifted a bundle of blankets from it. "Here," he said, turning to Hitonomi, "you hold her while I move the cradle." Hitonomi looked at him, both confused and slightly annoyed. She could sense chakra from a mile away, literally, so she knew that there was no baby there.  
"Hajimi?" She said slowly.  
"I told you, just go along," Hajimi whispered. Hitonomi closed her eyes and slowly shook her head as she extended her arms for the 'baby'. "Thank you," whispered Hajimi as he handed her the bundle of blankets. "I swear I'll explain it. But not until after this is done." With that, he picked up the crib- it was small and light- and brought it to his mother's room. Then he reached over to Hitonomi, took the bundle, and replaced it in the cradle. Once that was done, they both left the room and Hajimi closed the door.

Back in the bedroom, Hajimi finally began to explain himself. "Alright, I know that this may have seemed a little strange, but it's all for my mother, really. My father's a Hyuuga too- the clan's very close- but he's one that lives on pride. Apparantly, the moment that I first opened my eyes, he denounced both me and my mom. She loved him. She couldn't imagine any life without him, so I guess she imagined one with him. She even went so far as to get pregnant with Kiko over there." He gestured towards the door. "She said that it'd be nice to have a girl around the house since I'm gone so often training. She said this to 'my father'." He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "But the thing is, she really is a good mom, so I do what I can not to bother her." Hitonomi sighed.  
"Hajimi, you should take her to see a mental doctor. Or a therapist. Yeah that sounds right." She muttered. Hajimi glared at her.  
"I'm not letting anyone take her away. She's happy. That's enough." The chakra was running to his palms again, and his hands were pulled partially into a fighting stance. Hitonomi smirked at him.  
"Now when did i say she had to stay there? And stop being so defensive. Life will be so much more fun if you don't get offended so easily!" Hitonomi said. The smirk never left her face. It seemed the more she got to know this Hyuuga, the more she liked him. She could see great things in his future. The thought made her smirk bigger. Hajimi reacted instinctively. His hand shot out and grabbed Hitonomi's arm. Almost instantaneously, Hajimi cried out as he felt a sharp pain in his, now broken, arm. Hajimi gasped and looked at Hitonomi as he backed away. She appeared to have never moved. Even Natalia didn't react! "Now my friend, I really doubt you'd want to do that again. You are no match for a kage." Hitonomi said with that damn smirk on her face. The she smiled again and laughed. "Now why don't I fix your arm?" She asked. The pain still throbbed in Hajimi's arm, but he managed  
"I can take care of it myself" through gritted teeth. To prove his point, he turned to the bedpost and tied his broken arm to it with the pillowcase. Using his teeth and other hand, he made a shoddy job of it, but it worked. Then, once he was confident that his arm was straight, green chakra began to glow from his unbroken hand. Placing it over the break, he struggled not to cry out again as the break slowly healed itself. Hitonomi sighed.  
"Alright, if you want to do it the painful way, you just keep at it. But I need to find the legendaries. Would you know were they are?" She asked sweetly. Hajimi turned to her, gasping for breath.  
"The who?" he asked, obviously annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of his jutsu. She smiled as Natalia slithered off her shoulders and made herself content on the pillow. She then smirked at Hajimi, with a glint in her eye most people don't get to live to talk about.  
"The legendary Sannins, Jiraiya and Tsunade."


	4. Chapter 4

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Hajimi still wasn't sure about what had happened in the past hour. He also wasn't sure if he believed it. But the first part of the events, at least, proved itself to be true- Akimichi Shizou came to class in a cast- the result of a dangerous training session. The nervous and suspicious glances aimed at Hajimi told him that nobody believed that story for a second. But that didn't worry Hajimi. Without an actual witness, not even the teacher- whose eyes drifted to Hajimi before Shizou had even finished his story- could do anything about it. And besides Hajimi and Shizou, there was only one witness to that fight, and he doubted that she'd.... no, he doubted that she'd tell anyone on purpose. That Hitonomi girl seemed absolutely brainless at times. At other times, she was, quite frankly, an evil heartless bitch. He rubbed at his arm, remembering. She had invited the idea into his home that he was wrong in the way he treated his mother. All he wanted was for his mother to be happy. Even believing that his father still loved her, even believing that she had a beautiful baby girl in a crib in her room, her happiness never encroached on his feelings towards his mother, who had always taught him to see and give the best to others. However, others- like Hitonomi- seemed to all be of a common mind. They all wanted to take away her freedom, take away the comfortable lies, the delusions, the happiness that Hajimi had worked so hard to maintain in his mother, even going so far as to threatening a doctor so that he would go through with the birth of Kiko properly. But this last time, things didn't go as well as they usually did. He got hurt. Badly. And then, while he was still in the fog of pain, she called herself... a kage. But a kage like that? Who in the world would want to be led by such a creature? There was only one village that he knew of that had ever boasted a kage with a black heart, and he was Orochimaru. The other sannin. Hajimi hated himself immediately for not seeing it before. Of course. Orochimaru must have infiltrated Konoha using a transformation jutsu. However, how he got past the front guards, Hajimi dreaded to find out. After all, that snake was a beacon to who Hitonomi really was. And now she was staying at Hajimi's home.

* * *

Hitonomi smiled happily as she strolled down the streets of Konohagakure. She had left Natalia to doze on the pillow at Hajimi's house. Now she was off to find Jiraiya. She'd find Tsunade later. Then she got distracted by the smell of food and her stomache's growls. She giggled. She had forgotten how long it had been since her last meal. She headed to the small cafe that had attracted her stomaches attention and smiled when she saw a group of five young ninja enjoying themselves. She walked in, avoiding them expertly, and sat at an empty table. A waitress was quick to come over.  
"What can I get you miss?" She asked. Hitonomi smiled.  
"I don't know. What do you recommend? I'm new in town so i wouldn't know." Hitonomi said kindly. Oh how she enjoyed manipulating people. The waitress smiled.  
"Well, I would recommend the chef's specialty. Today, that's pork stew with noodles. One of my personal favorites!" She said kindly. Hitonomi smiled and nodded. "And to drink?" Hitonomi had to think about that. If she was having stew, she didn't want anything hot, but she hated carbonation.  
"Iced tea." Hitonomi decided. The waitress nodded again and left with the order. Hitonomi sighed and then spared a glance at the other ninja. Some of them were staring at her, with caution. She smirked when she caught one of the ninja's eyes. They were about Hitonomi's age. The only difference was Hitonomi was stronger and more experienced than all of them combined. She could kill them in one sweep if she wanted to. Fortunately for them, she was in no possiton to get away with killing them now. The evil glint in her eyes returned and the ninja she had locked eyes with finally turned away. '_hmm..Maybe i should stop imaging ways to kill people. They tend to notice._' Hitonomi thought. Then an older ninja came and sat down with her.  
"Hi! You must be knew here. I've never seen you around before." She said sweetly. Hitonomi smiled and nodded.  
"I only just arrived today." The new ninja nodded.  
"Forgive me, I'm Hatake Mitsukai. I'm a gennin team leader here in Konoha." Mitsukai said. Hitonomi smiled. This was the daughter of Kakashi! How ironic that she be one of the first Hitonomi would meet.  
"My name is Hitonomi." Hitonomi said sweetly. Mitsukai smiled.  
"Nice to meet you, Hitonomi. So what brings you to Konoha?" She asked. Hitonomi shrugged.  
"Just meeting up with some old family acquaintances. I bet they're old and senile by now." Hitonomi explained. Then her food arrived. It smelled amazing! Mitsukai ordered something and then turned back to Hitonomi.  
"So who are they?" She asked.  
"Jiraiya and Tsunade." Hitonomi said simply. Mitsukai smiled.  
"Well Jiraiya is deffinately senile. Tsunade's just old. Though she doesn't look a day older than thirty, she's celebrating her 83rd birthday in 4 days. She'll be at the karaoke club next door." Then Mitsukai looked up and laughed. "Speak of the devil, there's Jiraiya and his granddaughter now. Looks like she got stuck with the caretaker job today." She said. Hitonomi turned around. Sure enough, there was Jiraiya. Though he had a lot more wrinkles since Orochimaru had last seen him, he was still recognizable to girl he was with seemed annoyed. They appeared to be arguing. The girl noticed Mitsukai and dragged Jiraiya over to their table. Oh how the day was working in favor for Hitonomi. The girl turned to Mitsukai.  
"Mitsukai-san, who is a better ninja? Ryu or Sukara?" She said. Mitsukai laughed.  
"Well, Ryu is better with genjutsu-" The girl got in Jiraiya's face and yelled 'Ha!' "- and Sukara is better with Ninjutsu-" It was Jiraiya's turn to shout 'Ha!' "-but in my professional opinion, I would have to say that neither one is better than the other. They balance each other. They can't successfully win in a fight against each other." Mitsukai finished. Both the girl and Jiraiya looked like they wanted to sulk.  
"Damn. We had 20 yen on that bet." He muttered. Hitonomi burst out laughing. They both looked at her. Then Jiraiya leaned in for a closer look.  
"You look familiar. Have you ever been in a book?" He asked slowly. Hitonomi smiled and shook her head no. "Do you **want** to be?" He asked. Hitonomi and Mitsukai both laughed.  
"No!" hitonomi exclaimed while laughing. The girl smiled and then sighed.  
"Well, let's go Jiraiya-san. Mom wants us home for lunch." she said as she started walking away. Jiraiya didn't move. Instead he stared at Hitonomi for a few moments. He reminded him so much of someone he knew, but who?!  
"Ojii-san, Let's go!" The girl called. Jiraiya glared at her now.  
"Stop calling me that!" He yelled and then started walking over to her. "It makes me feel old." He said, slightly quieter. They left and Hitonomi laughed. Jiraiya would be easy to kill. She turned back to Mitsukai and smiled.  
"He didn't seem senile to me." She said. Mitsukai snorted.  
"Only because Ashley was here with him. He can have conversations and his long-term memory is fine, but distract him once and he's gone. He'll wander around for hours without a care in the world. And when he finally comes to his senses, he'll have no idea how to get home. So his family always has someone watch over him at all times. But he's a nice guy and a good ninja." Mitsukai said. Hitonomi smiled and nodded. She smirked as she ate her stew. She would be able to meet Tsunade in 4 days. The plan would be in motion by then. For now, she would say goodbye to her new _friend_ and head back to Hajimi's.


	5. Chapter 5

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"So how was your day at school, Haji?" Hajimi smiled. After spending all day worrying about Hitonomi, it calmed him to hear his mother's voice.  
"It was fine, mom. Boring, though. I still can't believe they failed me last year." Hajimi's mother smiled at him.  
"Oh, don't you worry about that, Haji. You'll graduate this year."  
"I sure hope so," replied Hajimi.  
"Now, what about your friend. Hito-chan, wasn't it?" Hajimi shrugged.  
"I don't really know. She said something about touring the village. She's not back here yet?" He managed not to add: Thank god, I get a little bit longer without having to deal with that traitorous murder(ess). As if on cue, the door opened and in walked Hitonomi.  
"Good afternoon Hajimi, Mrs. Hajimi's Mom. And how are you this fine day?" She said cheerfully. Hajimi's mother responded before he could think.  
"Oh, we're both fine, Hito-chan. But what about you? Spending all day on your feet without much time to rest, you must be exhausted." Hitonomi smiled sweetly.  
"You are so kind Mrs. Hajimi's Mom. But i am fine. I made a new friend and got some lunch and it was all very enjoyable." She said, smiling at her. She then turned to Hajimi, and there was that glint in her eye that only hinted towards her true, evil, intentions. "And you, Hajimi? How was _**your**_ day?" She asked.  
"It was ok," replied Hajimi as normally as he could manage. "Same old same old from last year. You'd think that the teachers would change the material to protect themselves from boredom, at the very least." Hitonomi laughed and then placed two fingers at her lips. She issued a very shrill whistle, and Natalia slithered down the stairs and onto Hitonomi's torso. She smiled at hajimi.  
"Care to take a walk with me, Hajimi?" She said sweetly. Hajimi nodded, attempting now to see Hitonomi as just some ordinary girl with a giant snake that happened to be curling around her body. It didn't help much.  
"Mom? Is it ok with you?" His mother nodded, opening the door herself.  
"Of course, of course! Now, you two have a good time, ok? I'll keep some curry warm if you get back too late, alright?" Hajimi smiled.  
"Alright, mom. We'll be back later, then." Hitonomi and Hajimi walked out and as soon as the door closed, A series of glances were sent at Hajimi with that same glint in her reached an empty training grounds and Hitonomi walked in, keeping her back to Hajimi.  
"Why are we here?" asked Hajimi angrily. Hitonomi stayed silent. "Who are you, really? All you've told me so far is your name and the fact that you're-"  
"Spar with me." Hitonomi said, interupting him.  
"..What?!" Hajimi exclaimed. Hitonomi turned and smirked as her golden eyes peered into his.  
"Spar with me. Now." she said. Her voice sounded ruthless. Ready to kill, even. The challenge, strangely, did not frighten Hajimi. It excited him. It demanded one thing- the one thing that Hajimi had been doing his entire life- fight.  
"You're on," he said, a grin crossing his face. "But I get to choose the rules. First one unconscious or admitting of defeat loses. Short and simple. Winner has to do full heals when the match is over. Fair?" Hitonomi smiled.  
"Alright, but let's up the odds. You win, I will tell you what you want to know about me. If I win," She smirked. "Then you must do something of value for me. Agreed?" Hajimi's grin never faded. In fact, the words went straight over his head.  
"You've got yourself a deal." Hitonomi smirked as she noticed Hajimi's readyness for battle. He never noticed what he agreed to. Natalia slithered off her and into the shadows to watch. Hitonomi grabbed a kunai in each hand and simply stood there, smirking at the boy in front of her.  
"May the duel of fates begin then." She declared.  
"Quit talking," retorted Hajimi, settling into the stance that his clan had used for generations, "and make your move." Hitonomi laughed.  
"Why would I be first? I'm the one with the advantage here." She said slyly.  
"Alright," said Hajimi. "I'll go." Two kunai fired towards Hitonomi in quick succession, followed by Hajimi. Hitonomi rolled her eyes and didn't move until the last second. She raised her kunai, deflected Hajimi's and threw one at Hajimi. Hajimi never missed a step, deflecting the thrown kunai with the chakra in his left hand and attacking with his right. Hitonomi laughed and disapeered into thin air, only to reappear behind Hajimi and give him a sharp snap-kick to the back. Of course, Hajimi had learned more than just jyuuken to earn respect. As he dropped down, he caught himself with his hands and swung a chakra-loaded foot towards her. Hitonomi jumped up, but her feet get swept out from under her. She recovered quickly by landing in a handstand and going into a flip. While she flipped, she threw three kunai at Hajimi in quick sequence. Hajimi managed to deflect two of them, but was hit in the right arm by the third. Pulling the kunai from his flesh, he returned it to its owner, supplementing its path with a small amount of chakra. Hitonomi caught the kunai with one hand and completely blocked all chakura comming in her direction. She looked at Hajimi with an insane look in her eyes as a laughed came from deep in her throat.  
"Oh, you're very clever Hajimi. You certainly have the potiential I want." She said. She sounded Manic. She was instantly infront of Hajimi, with a right-hook in his gut. Hajimi's clone shattered in that instant, and Hajimi himself had two fingers aiming towards Hitonomi's liver. Hitonomi did a back flip over Hajimi and giggled as she vanished in mid-flip. "So, you want to bring jutsus into this? So be it. Shadow serpents!" Hitonomi's voice was heard. Next, a big black snake materialized infront of Hajimi. It hissed before rushing towards him. Hajimi rushes right back, jumping up to avoid the snake's attack at the last second and aiming a chakra-filled hand at the snake's spine as he headed back down. However, no contact was made. He passed right through the skin of the serpent into a world of darkness. And there was nothing to do but react.  
"Kaiten!" Hajimi shouted as he spun around, expelling chakra from every point in his body. Hitonomi's laughter was heard.  
"It's no use. My pet can't get hurt from just chakura. But he can hurt you." She taunted. A hole in the shadows appeared and the snake went strait at Hajimi, capturing him in his jaws and throwing him up into the air and out of the shadows. Hajimi knew what he had to do. He raised his hand and said the words that he had heard from others so often:  
"I submit." His hand stayed in position until he hit the ground and tumbled like a ragdoll, eventually lying still. The snake hissed and dissappeared. Hitonomi re-materialized standing over Hajimi. She smiled at him. A real smile.  
"You got talent, kid. I can't wait to call in that favor you owe me." She said. She then extended her arm to help Hajimi up. His hand twitched as he struggled for the energy to move, but then even his eyes closed as he realized that he really should have mastered kaiten before using it like that. Hitonomi smiled as Hajimi passed out. She shook her head slightly. Natalia slithered over and up to Hitonomi's shoulders as she kneeled down and grabbed Hajimi's shoulder. "Teleportation jutsu!" She yelled as she created the handsigns. With a quiet poof, they teleported into Hajimi's room. Hitonomi smriked at him as she left the room. '_Oh yes. I'm going to enjoy it when you join me and the sound village._' She thought. And then she closed the door and left.


	6. Chapter 6

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Hajimi awoke in pain. Bruises all down his body, especially down his left side. He began to sit up in bed- his bed- but his arms failed him. In an awkward fall, his left elbow dug into his side, making him cry out in pain. His mother, hearing his voice, walked into the room.  
"Oh, you're awake, Haji!" Hajimi blinked, as though finally figuring out where he was.  
"Hi, mom. How'd I get back here?" She smiled as she sat down next to his bed.  
"Oh, Hito-chan carried you back after you were jumped. It's amazing how quiet she was. I couldn't even hear her until she was already putting you into your bed." Hajimi blinked again.  
"What? Jumped?"  
"Oh, don't you remember? Hito-chan told me that eight children your age came out of an alley and attacked you. Don't you remember?" Hajimi remembered all right, but nothing about a group attack. He shook his head.  
"No, but I'd like to thank Hitonomi in any case. Where is she?" His mother walked over to the door. "Oh, Hito-chan is downstairs, eating breakfast. I'll send her right up."

Downstairs, Hitonomi was finishing her waffles when hajimi's mother asked her to go up. Hitonomi was thrilled to learn he was already awake. He was continueing to show the potiential she wanted from him. She entered his room (with a plate of waffles for him) and shut the door. She then turned and walked over to Hajimi and gave him the plate. She smiled at him.  
"Eat up. You must need it." She said sweetly. Hajimi ignored her.  
"I thought you'd heal me. That was the deal. I don't want my mom to know that I get into fights." Hitonomi's smile became that evil smirk.  
"You said the winner does the heals. I did do the heals. You never said I had to do all of them." She said sweetly. She then giggled. "Besides. I told your mom that those kids were bullys looking for anyone to beat up. She just thinks you were unlucky. Wrong place, wrong time." Hitonomi explained. She was smart enough to keep Hajimi happy with her. And that meant she had to keep his mom happy. Hajimi relaxed a little, but that didn't mean he wasn't still angry. He took a bite of waffles for time to organize his thoughts.  
"I can't let anybody find out that I'm like this," he said, finally. "I'll be in bed all day healing, since my energy's so low." Hitonomi smiled at him.  
"I understand. It's a good thing you don't have school today then." she said as she headed towards the door. "Oh and watch that bite. It could get nasty. Let me know if it does." She said, tauntingly, before she left the room. Hajimi watched her leave, then adjusted his arms so that his left hand was being used in the acquisition of his waffles and his right was healing the bruise on his left side.

Hitonomi walked downstairs with a smile on her face. Time for another day on the town. Perhaps she would meet Mitsukai's father, the copy-cat ninja Hatake Kakashi. Or perhaps someone else that would remember her father. But before she left, she had to make sure that Hajimi took care of that bruise. Because when it didn't heal, then it meant that her shadow did it's job.

In Hajimi's bedroom, the fork had fallen to the ground, his back bent double in pain as he attempted to rid himself of the bruise on his left side. It shouldn't hurt this much, he told himself as he put another burst of chakra into healing the stubborn mark. Once he had run out of energy again, he pulled up his shirt to check on his progress. The bruise was fading, but something darker than the bruise was arising. But, since it was still just barely noticable, he couldn't tell what it was. He pulled his sheets up and fell asleep again.

Hitonomi smirked at the once again unconcious Hyuuga as she put his shirt back down. She had just finished checking the bite and was thrilled to discover that the mark as there. It was still developing, but it was was related to her father's blessed 'cursed seal', but this mark was _hers_. And it was, as far as she was aware, unsealable. So what the man, oh what was his name? Kakashi? What kakashi did to Sasuke's cursed seal would _never_ work for this mark. Of course, it didn't work for Sasuke either. She giggled at the thought as she left Hajimi's room and went downstairs. She said her goodbyes to his mother and went out to find people.  
She yawned as she walked around Konoha. Things were so boring in this town! She missed Otagakure. Things always happened there. Hitonomi sighed and glanced at a nearby tea place. A certain blonde ninja caught her eyes. It was the ANBU who had allowed Hitonomi to enter. She smirked and headed towards the tea house. She stayed in the shadows and used her chakra to manipulate people to believe she wasn't there as she listened in on the blonde, who was currently with someone with pink hair.  
"Sakura, he died twenty-seven years ago. You can't dwell on the past! That's why Tsunade-sama relieved you of your ninja duties, remember?" The blonde said sadly. The pink-haired girl, Sakura, sighed.  
"Ino, do you think he was ever planning on comming back? Even if it wasn't for a girl, but still comming back?" She said. She seemed to be completely ignoring all the questions that the blonde, now known to be Ino, was asking her. Ino sighed and then smiled sweetly.  
"Of course Sakura. After he killed Itachi he would have come back for sure." She said with such falseness in her voice. But Sakura didn't seem to notice. She just smiled and sighed. Hitonomi was now very interested. She had heard the name Itachi before, but from where?It was like an old memory covered in just. One she never believed to be important. Ino sighed, bringing Hitonomi back to reality. "Don't worry about the past, Sakura. I'm sure Sasuke would have come back eventually if he had the chance." Ino said. Hitonomi almost broke out laughing. Sasuke. _Now_ she remembered Sasuke and Itachi. It had been her father who killed Sasuke by taking over his body twenty-seven years ago. Then when she was thirteen, her father taught her that jutsu and as an early birthday present for when she turned 14, he told her to use it on him. His talents and the skills he had aquired through that same jutsu was his last gift to her. On the day of her 14 birthday, she tested her skill with the sharingan and killed Itachi. The snakes were responsible for the end of all Uchihas. God, how it made Hitonomi eager to kill when she remembered that fight from almost two years back. But now was not the time to go on a killing spree. There were two many powerful ninja in this town and she was only one talented kunoichi. She wouldn't go up against them. Yet. Hitonomi grinned when she noticed Ino get up to go somewhere, even if only for a minute. As soon as she was out of sight, Hitonomi strolled past Sakura.  
"My father knew your Sasuke Uchiha. Quite a talent that boy was." Hitonomi said quickly, getting Sakura's watched as Sakura spun around and watched Hitonomi walk away. Hitonomi then smirked when she heard Sakura chasing after her. Sakura stopped in front of her. Hitonomi smiled up at her. She already knew that she had mental issues, if she had been relieved from being a ninja. Sakura looked down at Hitonomi with something in her eyes. Old memories were trying to break to the surface, but as Hitonomi thought, her issues kept them at bay.  
"You said that your father knew Sasuke?!" Sakura said quietly, yet urgently. Hitonomi smiled sweetly, but sadly.  
"Yes. He told me all about him. He died before I was born though. I hear he was a really good guy. Strong ninja. Last of his clan. A shame he was lost." Hitonomi said, playing on Sakura's obvious love for the boy. Sakura sighed. Hitonomi smiled.  
"Come on Miss. Walk with me. I'll tell you what my father told me. I'm Hitonomi." She said as she started walking with Sakura. Sakura smiled.  
"My name is Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you." she said. And so the two of them walked off away from prying eyes or ears.  
Ino came back from the bathroom and froze. Sakura was gone.  
"Oh no. Where could she have gone?! I told her to stay here." she whispered as she quickly left in search of Sakura. Naruto was going to _kill her_ if she couldn't find Sakura.  
An hour after searching, Ino finally admited defeat and headed to the Hokage's office. Damn it! Naruto was going to kill her! She heasitantly knocked on the door and walked in. There sat Naruto, otherwise known as Hokage-Sama, doing paperwork. No one would have guessed in their childhood that anyone would have seen Naruto doing paperwork.  
"What do you need, Ino?" he asked. Ino laughed nervously.  
"umm..Help actually. I uh..seemed to have..umm...lost Sakura." she said slowly. Naruto stopped writing and sat his pencil down.  
"You lost her?" he asked. He was obviously angry. Sakura was a very valuble friend.  
"I went to the bathroom and when I came back she was gone! She's never vanished like that before!" Ino exclaimed. Naruto sighed and stood.  
"Alright. Go get Kakashi and Mitsukai. I'll go ahead and keep looking." He said. Ino nodded and took off while naruto went out in search for Sakura.  
Hitonomi smiled as Sakura giggled.  
"I remember the day we became a team. I practically trampled Naruto in order to sit next to Sasuke. Of course, he never really cared. He was always working towards defeating his brother and avenging his clan. He changed so much." She said. The girls were both sitting at the base of a tree in the had been talking about Sasuke. Sakura, because she enjoyed living in the past. Hitonomi, because she wanted to destroy the expired kunoichi from the inside out.  
"What happened to Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Hitonomi smirked outside of Sakura's view.  
"My father told me how Orochimaru trained him to be as strong as he could at that age. Then, after a few years, he used the body transfure jutsu to take over his body. Sasuke put up quite a fight, but lost. Orochimaru gained his Sharingan. Twelve years later, Orochimaru had a daughter. 2 years ago, just before she turned fourteen, Orochimaru taught her his body transfure jutsu. His last gift to his precious prodigy was everything he had ever learned or obtained. Including Sasuke's sharingan. She took those gifts to new levels. Levels so high that on her fourteenth birthday, she used her sharingan to kill Itachi. I met her once. She killed my father. You can pick her out because her sharingan isn't solid like it should be. You'd have to see it to understand." Hitonomi explained when she saw Sakura's confused face.  
"Sasuke died such a horrible death." she said. Hitonomi nodded and then sensed two people headed in there direction. "Sakura, let's keep this little chat between us alright?" Hitonomi said sweetly. Sakura nodded and smiled.  
"Alright." she said happily. Then Mitsukai and another man walking with her came into view.  
"Kakashi-san! Mitsukai-chan!" Sakura yelled. Mitsukai smiled and the other man, Kakashi, sighed. Hitonomi gasped and smirked. the famous Kakashi. Marvelous! Mitsukai ran over while Kakashi continued at a steady pace.  
"Sakura, where have you been?" She exclaimed. Sakura smiled and shrugged.  
"With Hitonomi-chan!" She said. Mitsukai smiled at Hitonomi.  
"Thanks for finding her Hitonomi." Mitsukai said. Hitonomi smiled and stood.  
"It was no problem." She said. Then Kakashi got there. He looked at Hitonomi and stopped. Something threw her off about her aura. Something was hidden underthere that didn't seem welcoming. Hitonomi smiled. "Hello. I'm Hitonomi. Who are you?" She asked politely. Kakashi smiled, masking his worries.  
"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I understand you already met my daughter, Mitsukai. I thank you for finding Sakura. She hasn't always been able to take care of herself since we lost one of our ninja that she cared for very deeply." He said. Hitonomi nodded.  
"I can understand how hard that must have been." Hitonomi said.  
"Sakura was my dad's student when she was a beginner ninja. She's part of the family." Mitsukai said. Kakashi smiled and then wrapped an arm around Sakura.  
"C'mon Sakura. Let's get you home. Naruto is worried sick about you." He said as he started walking away with Sakura. Mitsukai waved and ran after them. Hitonomi smirked and went back to the Hyuuga compound. She giggled. Oh this would be a funstay for her.


	7. Chapter 7

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Hajimi gave up. The black mark wasn't reacting to his healing jutsu at all, much less disappearing. Besides that, Hitonomi had mentioned it, so she must have done it on purpose. Hajimi tilted his head to get a better look at it. It looked just like an artistic rendering of a sun, except that this was all black and was mostly composed of an empty circular space. For now, however, there was nothing he could do about it, so he resolved to ask Hitonomi about it when she got back and start healing the rest of his wounds until then.

Hitonomi smiled as she walked back into the house. She could sense Hajimi's agitation so he must be awake and he must have tried to heal her mark. She laughed and went upstairs. Hajimi heard the laughter and finished his current task. He wasn't done yet, of course, but no doubt he'd be able to get a full night's sleep if everything went as planned. Pulling himself up and swinging his feet over the bed, he waited for a chance to perhaps get an explanation from Hitonomi. Hitonomi walked in the door and smiled at Hajimi.  
"Hey there! How's the bite?" She asked sweetly.  
"What did you do to me?" demanded Hajimi. He had meant it to be commanding, but hours of healing made it come out half-winded and desperate. Hitonomi's smile became a smirk.  
"Just a little reminder. Nothing for you to worry about right now." she said, a sweet venom starting to become audible in her voice.  
"It's not going away," Hajimi stated, confidence rising, "It's my problem now. Tell me." Hitonomi laughed, the venom not obvious.  
"Honestly, don't you remember what you agreed to when we fought? That mark is a reminder that you must keep your word." she said harshly.  
"My word?" Hajimi asked nervously. He knew that he was likely to do things in "battle-mode" that he enventually regretted, but with this person, the risk was so much more. Hitonomi laughed.  
"Oh I LOVE it when they don't remember. They're always oh-so confident that they'll win that they don't pay attention to what they say! You need more mental training so you can stay out of that state. I can help you there," She said. It was a common thing to see Hitonomi do. Manipulate others through words and needs. And Hajimi was still learning. Would he see through a master? She thought not.  
"What did I say?" Hajimi was, admittedly unwisely, getting angry. Not only because of the person that he was getting angry at, but because his physical state didn't allow it. His breathing began to become labored. Hitoomi laughed, the sweetness returning.  
"Really Hajimi, don't worry about it! I'll remind you when It's necessary. Now do you want my help or not?" she asked.  
"Tell me..." Hajimi was beginning to fade again, his body dropping. Hitonomi smiled sweetly and walked over to Hajimi.  
"Rest. We'll talk when we need to." she said sweetly as hajimi began to fall asleep once again. Hitonomi smiled and gently helpped him lay back down so he didn't fall to the floor. Just as he was almost gone, Hitonomi whispered, "You gave me your word, Hajimi. I'll call in my favor soon enough."  
"Favor..." the word barely passed through Hajimi's lips as he fell asleep.

Hitonomi and Hajimi were seen walking together to the ninja academy the nex day. After a very heated discussion about _why_ an advanced ninja would want to go the academy, one which Hajimi lost, Hitonomi had decided to accompany Hajimi today. Hajimi, of course, wasn't at all happy about it. The last thing he wanted was to be seen being anything close to friendly with anyone- it would play hell with his reputation. And he definitely didn't want to be seen 'fraternizing with the enemy', which he still considered Hitonomi to be, for good reason. So he did his absolute best to ignore her as he traveled his normal route to the academy. However, Hitonomi was making that pretty damn difficult.  
"So how big is your class?"  
"Twenty kids," Hajimi replied bluntly, neither looking at her or missing a step.  
"hmm..My class was bigger. So what do you do in your class?" She said. She was, oddly enough, hyper. Maybe it had been the purple frosting.  
"Train. Test. Stuff like that." Hionomi smiled.  
"What are your tests like?" she asked.  
"Boring." Hitonomi sighed.  
"that's NOT what I meant!" Hajimi looked at her out of the corner of his eye.  
"Fine. Varied." Hitonomi gave Hajimi her annoyed face.  
"What do you do during your tests?"  
"Pass." Hitonomi rolled her eys. Then she smirked.  
"Let's say you failed..." She said.  
"I don't," replied Hajimi steadily. Hitonomi glared at him and went to trip him with her foot. He fell towards the ground, catching himself and getting back to his feet without showing any signs of worry. Hitonomi smiled.  
"You missed a step."  
"Hm?" Hitonomi poined back at their path.  
"You missed a step. So what do you have to do during your tests? If you say 'pass' or 'what the teacher says' or another smartass remark, you are going to hurt."  
"I always pass, even though I seldom do what the sensei asks. Everyone underestimates me out of school, even though I have proven that I'm as good or better than anyone in my class. It doesn't matter what I do to pass the tests. I just do. Enough?" Hitonomi sighed and growled.  
"You'll give me a straight answer eventually." She then smirked, having thought of a new way to annoy him. "Are we there yet?"  
"Yes. In fact, we're walking the halls as I speak," said Hajimi, despite the environment. Hitonomi started to chuckle, though she tried desperately to hide it.  
"Are we there yet?" She asked again.  
"Yes," said Hajimi as they rounded a corner. The Academy stood in front of them in full mass-educational glory. Hitonomi smiled.  
"Not bad. Definitely _bigger_ than my old school. But bigger doesn't mean better." She then turned to Hajimi.  
"Sorry. Talking to myself again. So where do you go for class?"  
"Inside." Hitonomi rolled her eyes and went ahead into building. Hajimi followed, speaking up on a whim.  
"If you want, you can probably get into my class. We're taking a test today, since you're so curious." Hitonomi growled.  
"What kind of test?"  
"Sparring match. Here," he says as he turns into a classroom. "Kiba-sensei? I brought someone along and was wondering if she could join in the class. She's from the Sand Village. The daughter of a friend of my mom's." Kiba gave him a knowing grin and told Hajimi that Hitonomi was free to join them. She took an empty seat next to Hajimi and was forced to sit through the hour of tedious chakra basics that she had known and mastered by the time she had grown to the age of eight. Finally, it was time for the test. Kiba led his students and Hitonomi to the Academy training grounds.  
"Alright. Hajimi, you're a host here, so you show Hitonomi how this works. Choose your partner." Hajimi nodded.  
"Nara Etsuko." The blonde haired girl wove her way from the back of the crowd to face Hajimi.  
"Ready?" asked Kiba. Both of them nodded.  
"Begin." Etsuko immediately threw a kunai at Hajimi, who dodged both it and her traveling shadow. Then he slammed his hand down on it, forcing his chakra to travel along the chakra-filled shadow and attacking the flesh of his opponent. Stunned, she released her jutsu long enough for Hajimi to aim two chakra-filled fingers towards her forehead, stopped inches away. Kiba nodded.  
"Good. Now Hitonomi." Hitonomi looked around. she was far to advanced for these half-pints. She smirked at Kiba.  
"You. And your dog over there." she said pointing to the overgrown dog gaurding the only exits that could have been snucked out of. Kiba shook his head.  
"No. I'm a jounin and you're an academy student. The difference would be too great. Choose one of the students." Hitonomi smirked.  
"Just because I'm a guest, doesn't mean I'm an academy student. I'm a graduate in Suna. Have been for years. Arrogance is a bad trait for a Jounin to have, ya know." She said venomously.  
"Then I suppose it's only fair that I fight in place of my students against a kunoichi of such standing. Akamaru!" The giant dog barked and jumped to Kiba, who then climbed onto him.  
"Begin." Hitonomi smirked and turned to her oversized bag.  
"Natalia!" She called. Accompanied with a hissing sound, The large snake slithered out of the bag and placed herself around Hitonomi's feet. She hissed at Akamaru. Akamaru growled at the serpent. Hitonomi smiled at Natalia and then smirked at Kiba and Akamaru. "Oh this will be fun." She said.  
"Hitonomi!" Hajimi called out. Hitonomi turned slightly. Hajimi chose his next words carefully.  
"Watch yourself, okay?" Hitonomi smiled and giggled.  
"Aw, Hajimi! I didn't know you cared!" She said happily.  
"You don't need to act for me, Hitonomi. Just finish up." Hitonomi turned to Kiba and Akamaru. She smirked. "Let's make this short and sweet." she said. Then, without waiting for a response, she grabbed a ball out of her pocket and threw it at Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba threw a kunai at it, activating the jutsu on it. As soon as the kunai hit, the ball exploded, sending kunai in all directions. As soon as they saw this reaction, Kiba and Akamaru split up to protect their students. In the end, Hitonomi and Hajimi, who used kaiten again instead of waiting to be saved were perfectly fine. Kiba and Akamaru both had about half a dozen kunai wounds each. The kids were fine, as hitonomi knew how to protect people from a distance. She smiled at Kiba and Akamaru. "Natalia! Take care of that mutt." She said as she began walking towards Kiba with a smirk on her face. Natalia hissed and slithered over to Akamaru. Kiba pulled a kunai from his body and readied it. Akamaru settled into a crouch, growling at the serpent. The only person not silent was Hajimi, who yelled at Hitonomi.  
"It's training, baka! No wounds! Back off!" The truth was that he was more worried about himself than his sensei. Everything that Hitonomi did would be reflected onto him, and he didn't want to be thought of as the friend of a murderer. Her eyes turned onto Hajimi.  
"Be silent. Weren't you paying attention? When I said that I graduated years ago, this became a higher level of training. And at the level we are fighting at, you are welcome to hurt each other. Some villages even encourage it." Hitonomi smirked at Kiba. "Get up Kiba-san. This is far from over. Don't worry about your kids. I wouldn't dare harm people on the sidelines." She said harshly. Hajimi shook his head. This wasn't training anymore as far as he was concerned. It was streetfighting. He turned his back and began to walk away as Kiba leapt at Hitonomi, his hands suddenly claws. Hitonomi smirked and waited until the last minute to move and grabe his wristes. She twisted him over her shoulder, throwing him to the ground. A howl was heard and Hitonomi spared a glace to see how Natalia was doing. Akamaru had pinned her to the ground and Natalia had retaliated by biting his paw. Hitonomi smirked and looked back to Kiba. She gasped when he was gone.  
"Gatsuga!" screamed Kiba as he flew straight at Hitonomi in a fast moving spiral ofclaws. Hitonomi was hit only once before she got out of the way of his attack. When she steadied herself, she now had claw marks on her left cheek. She glared at Kiba.  
"Well, I wont be making the mistake of taking my eyes off you again." She muttered more to herself than to anyone. She slowly went for Kiba again, a kunai in each of her hands. Kiba growled at her, popping a soldier pill and throwing one to Akamaru, who instantly turned red. Then, with the transformation of Akamaru into the feral version of Kiba, they both used Gatsuga, spinning around the area, but aiming over and over again for Hitonomi and Natalia. Natalia was instantly wrapped around Hitonomi as Hitonomi began spinning as well. It looked like she was dancing and everytime Kiba or Akamaru got close to either of them, there were either deflected or injured due to the kunai Hitonomi still held. Noticing this, Kiba and Akamaru landed side by side, identical in every way. Then they both simultaneously put together a string of handsigns that made steel hairs grow from their bodies. Then they threw themselves forwards again for another gatsuga assault. Hitonomi rolled her eyes. "This is getting anoying." She muttered. Natalia quickly got out of the way of the attack, sensing what her mistress was about to do. Hitonomi smirked and started focusing her chakura. Kibe wanted his body covered in steel? Fine. Hitonomi had shattered steel before. They charged at her as Hitonomi ran forward. She focused all her chakura in her arms. She punched both of them and sent them tumbling behind her. When she turned around, Akamaru had returned to a dog and Kiba looked like himself, just more beat up. She chuckled and ran at Kiba as Natalia striked at Akamaru. Before Kiba knew what had happened, he had a kunai at his through and Akamaru was wimpering as Natalia slithered around him, controlling the dog. Kiba's eyes opened wide in fear. The last time that he'd come this close to dying was against Sakon and Ukon more than thirty years ago. And this time, there was nowhere to run, and Kankurou wasn't going to come save him. He held still, hoping against hope that this wasn't the end. Then, surprisingly, Hitonomi smiled and laughed happily. She removed her kunai and smiled at him. Natalia slithered back into Hitonomi's shoulders as Hitonomi helped a shakey Kiba up to his feet. He stared at her in shock. She smiled and laughed sweetly again. "That was fun! We should do this againsometime." She said and then with a smile, walked out to find Hajimi. Kiba watched hergo and sighed when she was gone and Akamaru returned to his side.  
"Class dismissed." He muttered. The children proceeded to run out and around town, telling the story of how Kiba-sensei was defeated by a mystery girl with a giant snake.


	8. Chapter 8

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hitonomi eventually found Hajimi back at the classroom.  
"You shouldn't do things like that," Hajimi announced when she came in through the door. "Someone's bound to figure something out eventually." Hitonomi smiled as Natalia slithered off her and back into her bag.  
"Why whatever do you mean, Hajimi?" she asked sweetly.  
"It's the snake that gives it away, really," he stated. "You're Orochimaru, aren't you?" Instantaneously, Hitonomi had Hajimi pinned to the wall with a kunai at his throat.  
"Listen _very_ carefully, Hajimi-_chan_. If you are smart, you will never repeat this. I am and I am not Orochimaru. He taught me his body transfur jutsu and gave his skills and powers to me as a birthday gift. However, It doesn't matter much to you though Hajimi-_chan_, since you still owe me." She spat at him. Hajimi didn't seem bothered by the cold steel at his neck at all, instead thinking about what she had said. They had talked about something that he said, but he couldn't remember anymore. He had been too tired, and now that she had told him- and he remembered that much- he couldn't ask her again. He shrugged.  
"It doesn't matter anyways. If I was going to tell anyone about you, I would have said something before. Now could you put that thing away? I don't want to hang around here forever." Hitonomi's eyes narrowed dangerously at the boy.  
"Watch yourself Hajimi-chan." She released him and glared at him. "I'm not my father." She sad as she grabbed her bag with Natalia resting peacefully inside, not at all phased by her mistress's actions. "I'm worse." Hitonomi said. Then she turned her back to Hajimi and calmly left. Hajimi thought this over for a second.  
"Well, that explains it," he said, mostly to himself. He went to follow Hitonomi, but she had already vanished, so he made his way to the training grounds instead.

Kiba walked up the stairs to the hokage's office. He sighed, still slightly in shock over his fight. When he entered the office, he smiled. 30 years ago, no one would have believe they would have EVER seen Naruto Uzumaki going over paper work. Let alone working the new gennin into teams!  
"Hey Naruto-sama!" He muttered. Naruto smiled at him.  
"What's up Kiba?" He said, still as cheerful as ever. Kiba sighed.  
"I think we have a bipolar killer in Konoha." He muttered.  
"Who is he?" Asked Naruto, putting his pen down.  
"SHE, Hokage-sama. Her name is Hitonomi. She's an alleged Sand Village member, and is now staying at the home of the blind Hyuuga." Naruto nodded, and was getting out of his chair to start getting ready to track her down , but Kiba wasn't quite done. "She fights alongside a snake, sir." Naruto stopped for a moment before trading his ceremonial Hokage hat for the much more practical forehead protector of the majority of the shinobi of the village.  
"Orochimaru." Kiba nodded, expecting this from -five years hadn't been enough to dull Naruto's suffering over his one big failure. Now all that was left was to see how he would act. "Contact Neji and have him gather all ANBU squadrons that we can spare that are inside the village. We'll set up a barricade around the house." Kiba nodded, appreciating how well-thought-out Naruto's idea was.  
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" he said as he went out the the window to find the captain of the ANBU.

Hitonomi smiled as Kiba jumped over her without notice. She was thrilled after overhearing that conversation. Who would have thought that Naruto would have become hokage? From her father's memories of Naruto, Hitonomi had expected him to be an idiot, but time had worked with him instead of against him. How fortunate for her. Naruto then calmly walked down the stairs. Suddenly he stopped just ahead of where Hitonomi sat under his window. After a few moments of silence, Hitonomi laughed quietly.  
"Good afternoon, _Hokage-sama_. Would you mind if I used your name Naruto? Afterall, I wasn't expecting you to actually be Hokage." She said with humor in her voice. Instantly, the wall exploded under her as one of Naruto's famous shadow clones destroyed it with Rasengan. Hitonomi landed infront of him gracefully and giggled. "Oh don't take things so seriously!" She said playfully. "I'm not Orochimaru, if that makes you feel better." She said sweetly.  
"Who are you, then?" asked Naruto, a kunai suddenly in his hand. She smiled and giggled.  
"My name is Hitonomi! But you already knew that, right Naruto?" She said cheerfully. Then she turned her back on him and calmly started walking away. "I bet you _didn't_ know that I'm your equal and rival." She giggled and turned back to him. "I'm the _second_ snake sannin. And you are the second toad sannin, correct?" She said cheerfully. Though the look in her eyes screamed murderer. Naruto stared at her.  
"Leave," he said. "Leave this village now and don't come back." Hitonomi tilted her head to one side and stared at him.  
"Aww. But I'm not through here. There's still stuff I want!" She said playfully again.  
"What?" Naruto quickly asked. She laughed.  
"Everything." She said as she disappeared into thin air.  
"Shit." Naruto whispered.

Hajimi was panting from exertion as he prepared himself again. Then, he began to spin rapidly while releasing chakra. Until he hit the ground. _That one wasn't even half as powerful_, he thought to himself. _So I guess that means I've got seven. Seven kaiten._ He was satisfied with that. It was two more than the last time he had trained the move, shortly before he first met Hitonomi. She smirked from her spot in the tree.  
"Do me a favor, Hajimi. Don't go home. Your stupid cousin Neji and his ANBU are guarding your place for me to return." She said. He closed his eyes.  
"What did you do, Hitonomi?"  
"It's not what _I_ did, it's what Kiba did! He told Naruto that I was Orochimaru. I tried to tell Naruto that I'm not him, but he wouldn't listen," she said. Hitonomi then jumped down from the tree branch and proceeded to walk over to Hajimi. "I don't like how they call you blind. I fought several of your cousins and you see more than they ever did," she muttered.  
"They were born special," replied Hajimi, propping himself with one arm. "I wasn't. So I've had to work twice as hard to get half the respect they get from birth." He struggled to his feet, wavering slightly. "I'm going home."Hitonomi shook her head.  
" stupid cousin will give you a hard time. You know Neji. I recommend staying with Hinata. If I recall, your aunt is fairly nice and will understand and help you." Hitonomi said calmly. Hajimi shrugged.  
"If I don't go home, then there'll be nothing for it but for them to assume that I'm assisting a wanted criminal. I've gotta go." Hitonomi smirked slyly.  
"Ah, but they have no _proof_ that I'm a wanted criminal. They could arrest me 100 times and they still wouldn't be able to charge me with any crime. So in all reality all your doing is avoiding the ANBU because you didn't feel like dealing with them." She said smugly.  
"And how the hell would I know that there's ANBU guarding my house in the first place? Your word isn't exactly going to get me off. Acted ignorance is the only way through your screw-up for me." With this, Hajimi turned away from Hitonomi and began his normal walk home. Hitonomi tilted her head to one side as she stared in the direction Hajimi had gone.  
"Who said I screwed up? I think everything is going as plan." She muttered. She then smirked and became the spitting image of her father. "They're starting to panic." She whispered. She then turned and started to walk off when she remembered something. Today was Tsunade's 83rd birthday, according to Mitsukai. Hitonomi squealed. She could finally meet up with Tsunade. She squealed and started jumping on roofs away from the Hyuuga compound. She giggled as she finally saw her.  
"Wow Tsunade. You look so good for your age. You only look, what, 30?" She muttered to herself as she watched Tsunade and a large group of Ninja walk into a restaurant. Hitonomi laughed when she noticed it was both a family restaurant and a karaoke bar. Thanks to her father, she remembered one thing about Tsunade. She was good at finding the hidden messages. "Let's see what she can find with me." Hitonomi muttered as she walked into the place.  
Tsunade laughed along with everyone else as they all enjoyed her ....eighty....third....birthday. God damnit she felt old! She had even lost a little bit of her ability to manipulate her appearance to look young. She looked 30 now. She did not think that was a good thing.  
"So Tsunade, how does it feel to quite possibly have broken the record for longest living Ninja?" Mitsukai asked. Kakashi laughed at his daughter's comment. Tsunade glared at her.  
"Thank you, Mitsukai. I really _want_ to feel old." Tsunade mumbled. Everyone laughed at this comment. Time passed and as everyone was enjoying a free diner, courtesy of the establishment, 3 genin and two academy students ran in. Tsunade noticed the academy students were twin girls. They all ran to Mitsukai.  
"Mitsukai-sensei Help us please!" one of the genin yelled. The two children chased them laughing. Mitsukai laughed as they all stopped in front of her.  
"What's wrong, Kurai?" She asked calmly. One of the genin, Kurai supposedly, pointed at the two younger children.  
"They won't leave." He mumbled. Mitsukai laughed.  
"Now, now, Kurai. Your mother told you to play with your sisters. You need to learn to get along with them. Besides, sooner or later you might even end up on a team with them. It's better for you to work together now instead of having to learn how to later." Mitsukai said kindly. Tsunade smiled as did Kakashi, though most couldn't tell. Mitsukai was quite a teacher. Kakashi was right to be proud.  
"Yeah, but we were training for our next mission and they'll just get in the way!" Another kid spoke up.  
"Tsumido..." Mitsukai started. Tsumido sighed and apologized. The little girls giggled.  
"Aren't they supposed to be in school at the academy anyway?" The last one spoke, the only girl on the team. Mitsukai thought about it and checked the time.  
"You're right Midora. What are you two doing out of class?" Mitsukai asked the twins. They giggled.  
"Kiba-sensei sent everyone home early." One twin said.  
"He got his butt kicked!" the other exclaimed. Tsunade knew they were named Tsuki and one was named Tenpi, she just had trouble telling them apart.  
"What do you mean he got his butt kicked?" Tsunade asked the girls. They smiled.  
"It was AMAZING! We were testing today and....uh....What's his name Tenpi?" Tsuki asked her sister.  
"Hajimi." Tenpi answered.  
"Oh yeah. Thanks. Hajimi brought a guest. He claims that their parents were friends or something. But she's already a graduate from Suna! So they got in a fight and it was amazing! It wasn't like the fights at school. It was like Onii-san's fights that he tells us about." Tsuki said.  
"It was a REAL fight!" Tenpi exclaimed. Everyone was very interested in what the twins had to say now.  
"_AAAAANNNNND!_ She fought with a giant snake!" Tenpi exclaimed. Tsunade tensed along with everyone at the table who could remember thirty years ago. Mitsukai gave the students a disbelieving look.  
"A _giant_ snake? Show me how big." She said. Tsuki stretched her arms out. "It was like this long but a bagillion times bigger!" She exclaimed as her sister wrapped her arms around an invisible circle.  
"And at least this big around." She said finishing her sister's start. Kurai sighed.  
"You over exaggerate." He said calmly.  
"That may be Kurai, but that's because things seem so much bigger for children. The trick is to now how much the exaggeration is." Mitsukai said as she hugged the twins playfully. "It could have been an anaconda." She said. She sounded like she was playing along with the kids but the rest of the ninja knew the truth. It _was_ an anaconda. Tsunade was worried along with the rest of the ninja who knew. The only ninja any of them knew who fought with snakes was Orochimaru. But he had vanished years ago. Why would he suddenly come back? Then the twins gasped as they looked towards the door.  
"It's her." They whispered in unison. Everyone glanced over to see a teenage girl with pale skin and black hair. Something seemed to be moving in the bag she held. "That's the girl who beat Kiba-sensei and Akamaru." One of the twins muttered. Tsunade observed her carefully. She had Orochimaru's hair, eyes, and cool demeanor. Yet, something about the feminism in her seemed too natural to be faked. No, this was not Orochimaru. But she was close to him somehow.  
"But that's... Hitonomi." Mitsukai said. Tsunade glanced at her and back to the supposed sand ninja. What game was this _Hitonomi_ playing? Ino growled.  
"No way. Something's wrong. I was the one who let her in the village. She said she wasn't a ninja, just a traveler. She claimed she had no village." Ino said. Mitsukai turned to her kids.  
"You five get out of here. Now." She ordered. The twins were clinging to their brother who simply nodded and took his sisters away. The other two stayed, a look of determination on their faces.  
"What's going on?" Midora demanded. Mitsukai shook her head.  
"Not now Midora. Now leave. You as well, Tsumido. This is could get extremely dangerous." She said harshly. They both groaned, but did as they were told and left. Then all eyes went back onto Hitonomi. Tsunade was alarmed to find several academy students other than the twins had gone over to see her.

Hitonomi smiled at the children sitting across from her.  
"That was amazing what you did at the academy!"  
"Where did you learn that?"  
"What was it like?" Questions came spitting out of their mouths at such a rapid pace Hitonomi laughed.  
"Slow down! I'll never hear anything you ask if you all ask at the same time." She said sweetly. Truth be told, Hitonomi had a soft spot for innocent children. It had been something her father had tried to squash, but he had failed.  
"Where's your snake?" One boy asked. Hitonomi grinned and glanced in the direction of Tsunade and her group. They all had eyes on her. Marvelous. Hitonomi smiled at the children.  
"Her name is Natalia." She said loudly. Then she zipped open her bag and reached in. When she lifted her arm up and into the table, Natalia was wrapped around it. Hitonomi put Natalia on the table in front of the students and smiled as Natalia yawned. "She's really quite sweet. She only fights like she did with Akamaru when I order her to or my life is threatened. Otherwise, she's harmless." Hitonomi said, continuing to make sure the leaf ninja heard her. Natalia stretched up and was met by Hitonomi's hand. Hitonomi started scratching Natalia's scales as Natalia hissed. Hitonomi smiled. "The trick to snakes is knowing how to make them happy. Natalia's trick is that she loves getting her scales scratched." She said. One brave girl then slowly started to reach up to Natalia. Natalia glanced at her and hissed. The girl shied away slightly but then got a look of determination and steadily reached up and gently put her hand on Natalia's head and started rubbing and scratching. Natalia hissed and then flicked her tongue on the girl's wrist. She giggled and continued to pet Natalia as Natalia slithered over to her. Hitonomi smiled as Natalia started playing with the girl. "Aw. She likes you!" Hitonomi said. The girl giggled as the other kids scooted away from Natalia. The Natalia started to slither onto the girls arm.  
"Whoa! She's heavy." The girl said as she giggled. Hitonomi smiled gently lifted Natalia off her arm.  
"She's a full grown anaconda. She typically weighs about 50 pounds. That was very brave of you to pet her." She said. Then Hitonomi turned to the boys.  
"Would you like to try?" She asked. The boys shook their heads.  
"She could swallow my arm!" one yelled. Hitonomi laughed.  
"Actually, she prefers mice and rats." She said as she calmed down.  
"Yeah right! How can I trust a snake that's bigger than me!?" The other exclaimed. Hitonomi smirked as she recited a poem her father taught her.  
"Trust in me, just in me  
Shut your eyes and trust in me  
You can sleep safe and sound  
Knowing I am around  
Slip into silent slumber  
Sail on a silver mist  
Slowly and surely your senses  
Will cease to resist  
Trust in me, just in me  
Shut your eyes and trust in me."

Tsunade glared at Hitonomi as she recited that poem. She remembered it well from when Orochimaru was back in Konoha. He wrote it from the snakes' perspective. It was a sure sign, and proof, that she was connected to Orochimaru. Or was at some point in time. Then, as Hitonomi got up and left, Tsunade got up and followed her out, along with the rest of the ninja that was with her. They found Hitonomi sitting on a bench, Natalia back in her bag, and Hitonomi smirking at them. "Hello Tsunade. I've heard you were good at interpreting hidden messages. Did you get mine?" She said sarcastically. Tsunade glared at her.  
"Who are you? I know you're not Orochimaru himself, but you have connections with him. Why?" She asked Hitonomi tilted her head back and laughed.  
"Thank you, Tsunade! You are the first person in this whole damn village to actually understand that I am NOT Orochimaru! It would be kind of odd for me to be Orochimaru considering he's dead!" She said smiling. '_He's dead?! Since WHEN?!_' Tsunade thought. Though she didn't let her distress show.  
"You didn't answer my questions." Tsunade said coldly.  
"I rarely do. Oh and you all need to stop calling Hajimi blind. He may not have the byakugan, but he sees more than those fools who do have it ever did." Hitonomi said calmly.  
"What do you want Hitonomi?!" Tsunade snapped.  
"Isn't patience a virtue that comes with old age?" Hitonomi asked smugly. Tsunade glared at her. The other Jounin were glaring at Hitonomi as they took defensive stances. Hitonomi leaned over. "Mitsukai, will you please stop glaring at me? We were getting along so well." She said with a fake pout. Mitsukai's glare hardened.  
"You lied to us." She said simply.  
"No. I only lied to one of your ANBU and to one of the academy teachers about minor details. I have been telling the truth otherwise. Oh yeah and I did sugarcoat what I told Sakura but that was for her own health so that doesn't count. You all lie to her all the time. And there was that teensy weensy little argument with Naruto, but that's not important." Hitonomi said grinning.  
"What happened with Naruto?" Tsunade asked. Hitonomi gestured as if she was brushing a thought off her shoulder.  
"He said something about leaving the village and never coming back. But that's not important!" She said cheerfully. Tsunade could feel the anger radiating behind her.  
"Why are you here, Hitonomi?" Tsunade asked. She would try a different approach. The wording of a question could easily change the answer. Hitonomi laughed slowly. Then she half spoke, half sang, her own little riddle  
"Beneath the shelter of the trees  
Only love can enter here  
A simple life, they live in peace  
Raise your head up  
Lift high the load  
Take strength from those that need you  
Build high the walls  
Build strong the beams  
A new life is waiting  
But danger's no stranger here  
All of my life, I have searched for a land  
Like this one  
A wilder, more challenging country  
I couldn't design  
Hundreds of dangers await  
And I don't plan to miss one  
In a land I can claim  
A land I can tame  
The greatest adventure is mine!"

Tsunade glared at her.  
"You wouldn't dare." She said. All the stares of the leaf ninja turned to Tsunade. She was the only one who understood.  
"Of course I would. I'm the second snake Sannin after all." She said as she vanished. Everyone tensed but Tsunade sighed.  
"Relax. She's gone. We need to go see Naruto-san." Tsunade mumbled and started walking towards the mountain.

Everyone was yelling and arguing. Except Tsunade and Naruto. They both now believed her to not be Orochimaru so they were trying to figure out who she actually was. '_Orochimaru....Perfect snake....Hitonomi....Bite....Perfect snake.....bite......Perfect...Snake.....Bite_' Naruto thought. Then his eyes widened in understanding.  
"Orochimaru Hitonomi." He said. The talking quieted down as everyone returned their attention to him. "Orochimaru Hitonomi." He said again. Most looked confused. Tsunade's eyes widened at the shock as she comprehended it. "It's her name." Naruto said to the confused faces. "Hitonomi is Orochimaru's daughter!" he exclaimed. Finally, it all made sense.


	9. Chapter 9

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hajimi began cursing Hitonomi the moment that he left the training grounds. If she had never come into his life, he'd still be protecting his mother against easy obstacles like his fellow Academy students. As it was, he'd no doubt have to figure out some way to elude the ANBU, the best of the best of Konohagakure. But of course, pure elusion was impossible. Even now, he could feel the gazes of ANBU forces at his back. He acted as he would normally, being careful not to change his pace while readying his hands for a fight. A fight which came, in the form of five kunai. Hajimi filled his hands with chakra and used them to deflect three kunai, dodging the remaining two. '_This isn't right_,' he thought to himself. '_They shouldn't be using deadly force. I'm a member of this village_.' But they were. Three more kunai and five shuriken shot towards him. Hajimi changed the chakra in his hand slightly, making it catch two of the kunai instead of deflecting them, using his new weapons to deflect and dodge the rest of the weapons. Then he thought about where the weapons had come from and sent his borrowed kunai straight back to their owners. The kunai were deflected when they went outside his line of sight, so he knew that that was where the shinobi were. He began to run, knowing that there was no way he could face off against two expert ninja, especially when they were both using long-range tactics. As he ran, he could hear the footsteps of the ninja following him. '_Two.... no, three, now. They picked up a friend.'_ He dodged into an alley, knowing what to expect. Two masked figures appeared in front of him. Without looking, Hajimi knew that the third was behind him. Hajimi did his best to act surprised.  
"You're ANBU?" he asked. "Then why did you attack me?" The figure on the right responded with military precision. "Hyuuga Hajimi, you're accused of aiding and abetting a suspected criminal who goes by the name of Hitonomi. Turn yourself over and you won't be harmed." Hajimi stared at the expressionless white face dispassionately.  
"I'm accused of helping a 'suspected' criminal, am I? Those seem like pretty vague charges to me. Besides, I haven't seen Hitonomi since she challenged Kiba to a fight. After nobody showed up to the classroom, I figured class was let out early and went training. By my best guess, Hitonomi's back at my place already." The right-hand ANBU spoke again.  
"She isn't. Now, if you would kindly-" The left-hand ANBU interrupted.  
"Lee, I wish you wouldn't do that. He's an academy student, for crying out loud, not a criminal. Let's just get Neji over here and have him figure it out." She placed her hand on her ear, activating the mic that was equipped.  
"Neji, are you there? Hm? Fine, "Captain", then. Yes, yes, I know we have to keep our identities secret. Yes, I get it. Huh? Oh, we caught up with Hajimi while he was on his way home. I thought you'd want to talk to him. Ok. Seeya soon, then." Hajimi rolled his eyes and sat down. '_Caught up with me. __**Right.**_' A few minutes later, Neji showed up, wearing a puma mask.  
"It's about time, Byakugan-Genius-Sama," said Hajimi, still sitting down, his voice dripping resentment. Neji ignored it.  
"Hajimi, do you know who Hitonomi is?"  
"A silly girl with a large snake."  
"She attacked the Hokage and your teacher. She's dangerous, so if there's anything you can tell us, you'll be doing a great service to the the village." Hajimi stood up.  
"She challenged Kiba-sensei. I wouldn't know about the Hokage, but since you say he survived, she must have not been trying very hard. Either way, it's not my problem. I don't know where she is and I don't care to know." He stared into the puma mask during this entire speech, daring his "superior" to say something against him. He didn't, but the unnamed ANBU did.  
"But it's for the safety of the village!" Hajimi pushed past Neji to confront her.  
"I don't give a shit about this village. The only good thing I've ever found here is my mother, and I'm keeping her safe." He turned away and started to leave.  
"Besides, at least Hitonomi never attacked me by surprise." He pushed past the blonde-haired ANBU that had been standing behind him and began walking home. However, he hadn't made it to the next intersection when a hand on his shoulder held him back. Instinctively, Hajimi's hand filled with chakra and slapped it away, making him turn to see who it was. The white face of a puma looked at him. Too late Hajimi remembered that power was only three parts acting like you were better than everyone else. One part was still being better, and Neji outclassed him by far. Hajimi forced himself to calm down. "I really won't help her, and I really don't know where she is. I just want to go home so that my mom doesn't worry." The staring contest went on, until the original ANBU- Lee, he recalled- interrupted.  
"Captain, I believe him. Let's just let him go home." Neji nodded.  
"Alright. Back to your posts." He turned to Hajimi. "Let us know if she contacts you again." Hajimi nodded, grateful to get away upright.

Kakashi and Mitsukai had gone home after learning the disturbing information about Hitonomi. Neither of them had wanted to hear that she was Orochimaru's daughter. Mitsukai was starting to like her and Kakashi had been okay with her since she had found Sakura. Mitsukai was in the kitchen, baking. Kakashi sighed when he smelled the peanut butter. Mitsukai had developed her mother's trait of baking when she was upset. kakashi walked into the kitchen and sighed again. There was his daughter rolling cookies to bake. He went up and hugged her.  
"We need to get over this." He said. Mitsukai groaned.  
"I can't understand why I didn't see the danger!" she exclaimed.  
"You never knew Orochimaru. He was gone long before you were born. It was literally inpossible for you to know. Don't beat yourself up. We'll get her." he said. Mitsukai sighed.  
"We better." She said. She walked her father to the door. Kakashi knodded and then walked out the door.  
"Get who?" Mitsukai spun around. Her eyes widened at the site of Hitonomi herself eating bits of her cookiedough. Her eyes narrowed.  
"Get out." She spat. Hitonomi smiled.  
"Aww. Mitsukai, I don't want to fight. I thought we could be friends." Hitonomi said with a smile. Mitsukai glared at her.  
"GET OUT!" she yelled. Hitonomi sighed and turned back to Mitsukai's cookies.  
"Oh Mitsukai. If we were friends, I could help you." Hitonomi said. Mitsukai slowly went for a kunai on the counter.  
"Oh yeah? How?" Mitsukai asked, not really paying attention. Hitonomi ate some more cookiedough. Mitsukai lifted the kunai.  
"I could bring your mother back to life." She mumbled. Mitsukai froze, the kunai slipping from her grip and falling to the floor with a clank. Hitonomi smiled at Mitsukai.  
"If you and I were friends, you would come with me. Then you could see your mother again." She said. She took another bite of cookiedough and then walked to the door.  
"I'm leaving this village in ten days. If you chose to join me, you can probably find me in the park somewhere. Don't worry. You won't be the only one leaving Konohagakure." Hitonomi then left, while Mitsukai remained shocked in the kitchen. The ninja in her said to call her father and report Hitonomi. But something deeper........wanted to go with her...

Hajimi lay in his bed, listening. Just outside of his hearing, the ANBU were still questioning his mother. He couldn't hear anything that the ANBU were saying, but his mother's anger was clear. Hitonomi wouldn't be allowed back inside. Hajimi wondered for a moment what she would do before realizing who he was worried about. She'll be fine, he told himself. If anybody would be, it's her. His mind went over the times he'd actually seen Hitonomi being serious. Those fools wouldn't be able to keep her down even if they could catch her.  
"Hi Hajimi!" Hitonomi exclaimed loudly, appearing from nowhere.  
"Baka," Hajimi hissed. "They're looking for you. Turn down the volume a bit." Hitonomi giggled.  
"Let them look all they want. They'll never actually catch me. They might find me, but catching me? Ha!" She exclaimed. She laughed playfully and smiled at Hajimi. "So you best be getting ready in the next few days." She told him. Hajimi sat up, looking her in the eye.  
"Try getting your ideas straight. Whether or not they catch you has nothing to do with me. You're wanted now, so any way that they can connect me with you can only hurt me. So get out." Hitonomi laughed.  
"Oh you just don't get it, do you? You _owe me_, Hajimi-chan. I'm not about to just walk out of your life. No, far from it. You see, I'm leaving town in ten days. And you are coming with me." She said while smirking at Hajimi. Hajimi glared at her.  
"I'm coming with you? Where in that psychotic brain did you come up with that idea? Heck, why would you even WANT me? Go downstairs, take one of the ANBU. Any one would be a better choice than me for whatever you've got planned." Hitonomi chuckled.  
"One, you could beat any of those ANBU. Especially with my help. Two, you don't just owe me. I own you." She whispered wickedly. Hajimi glared at her.  
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Hitonomi laughed maniacally.  
"Look at your side!" She exclaimed while gesturing towards where he had been bitten. Hajimi glared at Hitonomi before pulling his shirt up. The black mark stood proud on Hajimi's side, about the size of his fist, now completed. It was a celtic sun, with an empty center.  
"Yeah," Hajimi said. "I asked you about it before, but you led me nowhere with riddles. What is it?" Hitonomi laughed again.  
"You see now, Hajimi-chan? First you owe me, now you have my mark. I own you. And you will do as I say." She said evily. Hajimi tugged his shirt back down.  
"So you did something screwy to me. It means nothing and I will go wherever I want." Hitonomi laughed again. It was fortunate that the ANBU were now gone. She was starting to make a lot of noise.  
"Oh Hajimi-chan. Are you sure that you want to stick by that?" She asked sarcastically.  
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," replied Hajimi. Hitonomi laughed maniacally as she looked at Hajimi with a murderous look.  
"Fine, have it your way." She muttered before laughing as her mark began to glow. Eyes wide, Hajimi clutched at the mark, trying to hold back the now spreading pain that was enveloping his entire body. It progressed to the point where he was gritting his teeth, trying not to let any sound come from his now tortured body, and onto where he was left lying on the ground, panting and barely holding back screams. Hitonomi laughed as she watched him, letting her innerdemon get a breather. Then she finally slowly let up on the pain. "Well? Do you understand me _now_, Hajimi-chan?" she taunted.  
"Yes!" he gasped, his eyes open wide in the memory of the pain he had experienced. If he could put an analogy to it, he'd have to say that it was like the broken arm times three over every inch of his body. And he was certain that she could do worse. "Ten days?" Hitonomi smiled and nodded.  
"Glad you're seeing things my way." She said before walking and sitting on the bed. She proceeded to rumage through her bag. "Now, since you'll be joining me, you'll need this." She said as she threw a headband at him. "Now you're a real ninja!" She said happily. "Just don't let anyone see it until we leave." She said quickly. Hajimi nodded, tucking the forehead protector into an inside pocket of his weapons pouch. As he was putting it out of sight, he gota good look at the symbol that stood on it. A single eighth note, the symbol of Otogakure. The Village Hidden in Sound. A feeling of guilt washed over Hajimi, but he suppressed it and looked up at Hitonomi.  
"So what now?" Hitonomi smiled and watched something imaginary on the ceiling that seemed to have captured her attention.  
"I don't know exactly. I need to kill Tsunade and Jiraiya before we go. If i still have time, then I need to try and convince our _dear _friend Mitsuakai to come with us. You just need to keep a low profile, like you always do, until we go." She said cheerfully. "Perhaps you should start detaching yourself from your mother. Or make up a story to tell her so she will still be happy while you're gone." She laughed at the thought. The feeling of guilt returned to Hajimi again, but this time it was too much to suppress.  
"Please go," he said, lying down again and closing his eyes. "I need to think things through." Hitonomi looked at him with false sympathy.  
"Aw. Poor baby. Don't worry, I'll leave. For now." She said as she got up. She then smiled at Hajimi. "See ya later kid!" She exclaimed before vanishing. Natalia then slthered out of the bag Hitonomi had lefft behind. She hissed at him calmly before slithering over to him and resting on his stomach. Hajimi's hand absentmindedly began to scratch her gently. His mind went over the full implications of what he agreed to.


	10. Chapter 10

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hajimi woke up early, having fallen asleep much earlier than usual. At first, the only thing that he noticed was that it was a little hard to breath. Opening his eyes, he finally noticed Natalia.  
"When did you get here?" Hajimi asked, expecting the lack of answer that he received. "I must've really been out of it, huh? -not noticing her leave you here. I wonder why she did that." After a moment, he got bored of the novelty of having a giant snake on him. "Would you mind getting off? I've got things to do." Acting as bidden, she slowly moved herself onto the floor, watching him. "You're going to have to stay here a bit, ok?" he said, not quite sure how much she understood. "I have to go take a shower, and I'm not sure whether or not my mom'll recognize you." Natalia's head bobbed slightly, but Hajimi wasn't sure if it was a nod or a temporarily lapse of muscle control. He gathered clean clothes and opened the door slightly. When Natalia didn't move, Hajimi smiled in relief and closed the door behind him.  
When he returned, Natalia was in the same place as before, except that her head rested on the ground. Her head went up as soon as Hajimi stepped into sight. Hajimi looked at her thoughtfully. "I suppose I shouldn't just lea-" He stopped midsentence as he saw Hitonomi's bag lying against his bed. He took it and slung it around his shoulder, tightening the strap about an inch before letting it hang. After he was done with that, he tied his hair back, trying not to flinch as Natalia went up his leg and into the bag. "Alright," he said, mostly to himself now. "Sooner or later, I suppose." He turned towards the door before seeing his clock out of the corner of his eye. It flashed 3:16 in bright red. "But maybe a bit later than sooner," he muttered, turning instead to his desk, where he grabbed his "Gone Training" sign and hung it outside the door so that his mom wouldn't wonder why he was gone. Of course, for the possibly indefinite vacation, he'd need something a bit different. He had a plan for that, though. But that was for after his mom was actually awake. For now, he took his standard exit through the window.  
Halfway down the street, he was stopped by Lee and the other one again.  
"Where do you think you're going so early in the morning?" she asked, trying her best not to be demanding.  
"Training," answered Hajimi, "I'm an Academy student. I'm going to be a ninja eventually, so I need to train. I woke up early, so..." The ANBU looked at each other, both wondering what to do. After some mimed conversation, it seemed as though they finally reached a consensus.  
"I'll go with you," Lee said. Hajimi nodded, repositioning Hitonomi's bag on his shoulder. It wasn't a decision he had asked for, but he supposed it was one that he was going to have to live with. If he backed out now, it would seem like he was doing something secretive. He walked past the two and started walking towards the training grounds. Behind him, he heard Lee fall into step and the other one jump back to her post.  
"So how long have you been ANBU, Lee?" he asked, trying to make conversation with the uncomfortably military silence that followed him. However, the silence continued, and, if possible, increased. "Your partner doesn't seem to be very professional, huh? Worked with her long?"  
"We were on the same gennin squad." Lee replied, now answering Hajimi's call for basic human communication. "She's mostly in the ANBU because of her skills with weapons. She can kill someone at nearly any range with any weapon. Tenten's been like that since she first graduated as a gennin." Hajimi nodded.  
"So she's the one that tried to kill me yesterday?" Even before he finished the question, he could feel Lee's glare on the back of his head.  
"It was a confusion of identities. We had heard that the target had long black hair."  
"Just like the majority of the Hyuuga clan. Including your captain." Hajimi finished, leaving his companion to sulk. He was vaguely aware that he had just made a difficult enemy, but it didn't matter much. In nine days, it would all be the same.  
In silence, they reached the training grounds, and quickly separated to different areas. Hajimi first went to a tree, where he laid the bag and quickly tried to explain to Natalia why she couldn't come out yet. Then he began his basic training, first practicing emitting chakra from different specific parts of his body as he was trained. Across the field, it looked like Lee was balancing on one pinky finger while doing pushups. Quickly. Hajimi could vaguely hear the words "43, 44..." from his section of the training area. Impressive, he thought, turning then to his own training. Gouken was so crude. He turned on the training post quickly, preparing himself. The wood and steel construct was set on 76%, five percent higher than he usually had it.  
This was only training, though, so Hajimi focused more on strategy than pure brute force. Because of this, it took him around thirty minutes to completely disable the puppet. As it retracted, though, he saw Lee fighting another puppet, so Hajimi sat down to watch for the forty minutes until it finally retracted and Lee collapsed into a sweating heap on the ground. Curious, Hajimi went up to check what level ANBU fought at. Upon seeing thedial, his eyes went wide in shock. Eighty percent did this to ANBU when seventy-six was a decent training level for him? He went back to Hitonomi's bag and picked it up, thinking carefully about what Hitonomi had said about his abilities. _No,_ he decided, _he was holding back, too. He just did it better than me, so it took longer and took more out of him. _But he still wasn't entirely sure.  
He got back into his room at 4:56, so he went downstairs for breakfast, Hitonomi's bag still slung around his shoulder. Halfway through his cereal, his mom came in, her hair wet from her morning shower.  
"Good morning Haji," she said, smiling, but her smile faded quickly. "Now, Haji, I have something very important to tell you..." "  
It's about Hitonomi, isn't it? She can't come back, right?" She smiled thinly.  
"Yes. She's done something to the Hokage, so now there's a warrant for her arrest. Did you know anything about that, Haji?" Hajimi shook his head.  
"Only what the ANBU told me." His mother's smile fully returned.  
"Ah. Of course." Hajimi smiled with her, regretting the lie he was about to tell.  
"Mom, there's one other thing."  
"Yes, Haji?" Hajimi's eyes fixed on the floor, too ashamed to look her in the eye.  
"Dad talked to me yesterday. He wants me to go with him on his next mission, nine days from now. I'm.... I'm scared that I'm not ready. I'm still not a ninja yet. But I will be soon, so I can't back out. But I still wanted to make sure that you knew." She smiled at him, no sign of worry touching her eyes.  
"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine, Haji. Your father's a good ninja, and will keep you safe. In fact, I think I'll see you two off." Hajimi shook his head.  
"I'd rather you didn't, mom. This is my first mission, after all. I don't want to be tempted to stay home." She frowned at this, disappointed, but took it anyways.  
"Well if you're sure. For now, finish your cereal and get to school."

Hitonomi was laying in a tree taking a nap. She had been there, hiding herself through an invisibility jutsu for three days since she left Hajimi. She had left Natalia with him so her beloved pet could have a break from their normally very busy life. She opened her eyes from her cat-nap and sighed.  
"I only have seven days until I leave. In five i have to kill Jaraiya and Tsunade." She mumbled to herself. She then rolled onto her side to watch the ground. "Mitsukai...Aren't you coming?" She whispered. Truth be told, she really wanted Mitsukai to come. However, those damn jounin had figured out who she was. So Mitsukai knew the truth now. Hitonomi had dangled the greatest bait she could muster right in front of her, but if she was the ninja she was supposed to be, she would turn down even her mother after learning who she was associating with. Hitonomi was hoping she had already gotten to Mitsukai to the point where she would disregard who her father was. Afterall, it's not something we can control. Hitonomi yawned. It was almost 6 in the morning. Then she sat up bolt-right when she heard foot steps approaching. She looked over and smirked. Mitsukai. Mitsukai hadn't been thinking straight lately. Ever since Hitonomi had said she could revive her mother, her thoughts kept going back to wondering what it would be like to leave the village. She needed to talk to Hitonomi. Even if it meant she would be risking treason. That was why now she was in the park. She desperately hoped she could find Hitonomi. "Have you decided to take me up on my offer?" Mitsukai spun around. There stood Hitonomi leaning against a trunk with an emotionless face. It took everything Mitsukai had to control herself and not either flee or attack, but to stand with confidence.  
"No Hitonomi. I came to talk with you." She said. Thank god her voice didn't shake. Hitonomi tilted her head to the side and stared at Mitsukai with curiosity.  
"Alright." She said sweetly. Mitsukai sighed before she could catch herself causing Hitonomi to smirk. "Scared?" She asked. Mitsukai glared at her. Hitonomi laughed. "That's so amusing. so anyway, what did you want to talk about?" She asked.  
"My mother." Mitsukai growled. Hitonomi smirked.  
"Yes. She's dead. Doesn't have to be, but she is. anything else?" Hitonomi asked in her typical smart-ass voice. It was more typical to hear in her home town than konoha so Mitsukai was slightly taken back and royally pissed by what she had just said about her mother. Mitsukai glared at her as she reached behind her for a kunai. In an instant, Hitonomi was behind her holding her wrist firmly so she couldn't move her arm. "Now now Mitsukai. We don't want to do that. If you do that then I suppose your mother really does have to be dead. Do you want that?" She said tauntingly. Mitsukai glared and then her darkside reared her ugly head again.  
'_**just give in already! You know you want to see Mother again...don't you?**_'  
'_Go away. This is between me and Hitonomi.'  
'__**Yes and look at how it's going so far. Father said that Orochimaru always promised power to people. Who's to say Hitonomi wont do the same. you want that. You want to be a great ninja.**__'  
'Who's to say she wont kill me like Orochimaru did to those he promised anything to? Mother is not worth that kind of power anyway...'  
'__**Are you so sure of that? Because you seem to be hesitating. Why don't you just ask her what she wants?!'  
**_Mitsukai glanced back at Hitonomi.  
"What do you want in exchange for my mother?" She mumbled. Hitonomi smiled.  
"Leave Konoha and join my village. Swear your loyalty to me and me alone." She said smugly.  
_'You see?! I wont agree to that!'  
'__**It wouldn't be that hard! Just tell them a little white lie. Let them jump to conclusions like they always do. You want to see Mother again and so do I!**__'_Mitsukai sighed and relaxed. Hitonomi smiled and released her wrist. She walked in front of Mitsukai and stared her straight in the eye. Mitsukai glared down at the girl.  
"Who's to say that I'd ever agree to those demands?" She said hatefully. Hitonomi laughed.  
"You want to." Hitonomi slowly began walking towards Mitsukai, who matched each step with a step back of her own. "You've been arguing with yourself because you _want_ to have that power you know I can give. You _want_ a dangerous lifestyle, even if you don't know it yet. And most importantly, you _need_ to see your mother again." Hitonomi said. Mitsukai met with a tree. Hitonomi smirked and then giggled. "You have nothing to fear. I don't kill people I make promises with like my father did." She said calmly. Mitsukai slowly looked over Hitonomi. She found nothing but the truth. A twisted truth, but the truth. So what was she hiding that she had to twist it?  
"You want something in return." Mitsukai stated. Hitonomi smiled and nodded.  
"Of course. I'm not about to just go around distributing dead people!" She said sarcastically. Mitsukai glared at her.  
"What do you want?" She asked. Hitonomi smiled again.  
"I'm not going to worry you about it until after you agree if you choose to take me up on my offer." She said. '_Of course, you're bound to choose me in the long run_.' Hitonomi thought. Mitsukai went into her own personal battle again.  
'_**DO IT! DO IT! She's offering us the chance of a lifetime!**__'_  
_'But at what cost?'_  
_'__**Does it matter?! She's going to give us mom!**__'_  
_'Don't you understand?! _I _could be the cost! _WE _could be the cost!'_  
_'__**Mother is worth it!**__'_  
_'What about father?'_  
_'__**...**__'_  
_'Exactly. You don't care about what we have, only what we've lost. It's not worth it.'_  
_'__**NOT WORTH IT MY ASS! You **_**know**_** you want to join! PLEASE MITSUKAI! JUST SAY YES!'**_  
"Well? What say you?" Hitonomi asked. Mitsukai clenched her fists. Her darkness was getting desperate.  
'_**TAKE HER OFFER!**__'_  
_'It's NOT WORTH IT!'_  
_'__**IT IS! DO IT!**__'_  
Hitonomi sighed. "This is your only chance Mitsukai. I won't ask again after I leave this forest." Mitsukai began to sweat.  
'_**YOU MUST! IT'S OUR ONLY CHANCE!**__'_  
_'But father-'_  
_'__**Misses her even more than us. We'd be helping him too!**__'_  
_'But...I can't.'_  
Hitonomi smiled at her. "Last chance."  
'_**DO IT! YOU MUST! It's the **_**ONLY**_** WAY!**__'_  
_'...I can't'_  
_'__**YOU MUST!**__'_  
Hitonomi sighed and turned around. "Fine. Goodbye Mitsukai." She said and then began to walk away.  
'**STOP HER! SAY SOMETHING!**_'_  
_'What would you have me say?'_  
_'__**SAY YES!**__'_  
Hitonomi took another step.  
Mitsukai felt her desperation rising.  
'_**SAY YES!**__'_  
Mitsukai began to shake.  
_'__**SAY-**_'  
"YES!" Mitsukai screamed. Hitonomi stopped and looked back at her. "I'll do it! Whatever you want! Just bring my mother back!" She exclaimed. Hitonomi smirked.  
"Wonderful choice Mitsukai-chan." She said. She walked back to her, laughing. Mitsukai took a step back. Hitonomi stopped and began doing hand signs. "Relax Mitsukai. This will only hurt for a minute." She said. Then, without warning, a snake about 3/4 the size of Natalia was thrown from Hitonomi and tackled Mitsukai to the ground. It wrapped itself around her left upper arm and bit her. Mitsukai screamed in agony. When it released her, the snake disappeared into a wisp of black smoke. Mitsukai pushed herself up, cradling her now aching arm. She glared up at Hitonomi who smiled in return. "You're coming with Hajimi-chan and myself. We're leaving Konahagakure in seven days now. You will not tell anyone about this. Or Hajimi-chan. Trust me when I say you don't want to. If you don't believe me, you can ask Hajimi. Until then, I'll see ya around." Hitonomi said. Then she laughed as she walked away. Mitsukai bowed her head and cried.


	11. Chapter 11

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hajimi was getting used to life again. Yes, he was still going to leave his village and mother forever in seven days, and yes, he had been dragging a 50 pound snake with him for the past three days. However, he hadn't seen Hitonomi in all that time, either, so he could safely go back to the familiar pattern of going to school and beating the more annoying of his classmates senseless. He had just gotten back from his morning training session- Lee had stopped coming along the day before- and was just about the go out the door when a familiar voice came from behind him.  
"Hajimi-chan. We have a new friend." Hajimi gritted his teeth without turning around, but then calmed down.  
"So she said yes?" Hitonomi chuckled.  
"Of course. Where you expecting something to go wrong?" She said calmly.  
"She's a dedicated ninja of Konoha and the only daughter of the Copy Ninja Kakashi. A dozen and one things could have gone wrong," Hajimi responded, his eyes fixed on the door. Hitonomi chuckled again.  
"Dedicated? To Konoha? I never would have guessed...Are you avoiding me Hajimi-chan? You appear to be deliberately avoiding my eyes." She said sarcastically. She smirked as she leaned back onto the wall.  
"I expected you to leave eventually," said Hajimi, grudgingly turning around and sitting on his bed. "I was about to go somewhere, so I didn't see much point in wasting my energy actually looking at you." Hitonomi's eyes narrowed dangerously.  
"Where are you going? And how's my dear Natalia?" she said slowly. As if on cue, Natalia slither over to Hitonomi and twisted around and between her legs. Hitonomi smiled and kneeled down to pet her before Natalia went back over to Hajimi. "Good girl, Natalia," Hitonomi mumbled.  
"I'm going to the store. I need to stock up on supplies for the mission my dad's taking me on in a few days." This statement was devoid of sarcasm, and spoken as if it might even be true if a few crucial details didn't allow it to be. Hitonomi burst out laughing.  
"Is that the lie you're telling her?!" She exclaimed. Then she laughed again. "Oh, don't worry about supplies Hajimi. I've got everything we need. However," she said as she turned towards the door to leave. "You might want to find Mitsukai. The older you are, the harder it is to accept things you cannot change. Like, oh say, _my mark_." She said and then walked out the door giggling. Hajimi's hand went instinctively to his side, and then he moved to follow her. She really was born to be a leader, Hajimi realized. She has a certain gravity to her.  
"Any ideas on where she might be?" he asked as they went out the front door.

"Who's that?" TenTen asked, pointing at the front door. Lee stared in astonishment.  
"Is that-?"  
"I think it is."  
"How'd she get past us?"  
"I don't know."  
"Could she have been hidden inside?"  
"I don't know how. Neji did a scan of the house personally." TenTen took this in, and then put her hand to her ear. "Captain," she said, "The target has been located and identified leaving the boy's house. Should we attempt to neutralize or wait for backup? Yes, the boy's with her. Yes, sir." Wordless, she then pulled out a summoning scroll and activated it, sending three hundred different weapons spiraling down towards their target. Hitonomi, not saying a word, grabbed Hajimi's collar and dissapeared into thin air at the last moment. Instantaneously, Hitonomi and Hajimi reapeared inches out of reach of the last weapon.  
"Now Hajimi, don't do anything stupid. Understood?" She said, completely ignoring the ANBU. Immediately, Hajimi's hand swept up to Hitonomi's wrist in an attempt to knock it away, but before it contacted, her other hand was holding his wrist and twisting his arm behind his back. Hitonomi kept going, dragging Hajimi in his uncomfortable position. She giggled. "oops! sorry!" and then she let go. He sighed, and then went breathless. He ducked, just barely avoiding the burst of chakra coming from behind him. The Air Palm. The captain of the ANBU had come as backup. Hitonomi deflected it with her chakra, then turned and grinned, giving her an insane look.  
"Oh look. The ANBU want to play." She said sarcastically. Then her face hardened as she studied the ANBU mask. _Puma_. Natalia then slithered up Hitonomi's body, hissing quietly. Hitonomi glanced down at her and then glared at the ANBU. "You think I'm bad? Well, You're scum Hyuuga Neji. Actually attacking your own son! My father was never _that_ vicious! did it EVER occur to you that Hajimi is stronger than you? Because I know for a fact he is!" She yelled at him. Neji stopped for a second, surprised, and then went back to battle mode.  
"I've never had a son,"he demanded. "The boy is a bastard, without a father. It's the only reason that he was born without the Byakugan eyes, despite his mother's blood." Hajimi raged up from this.  
"A bastard? Yeah! Because I grew up HATING my father for deserting my mother when she gave birth. Why? Because the great captain of the ANBU; the Byakugan GENIUS- refused to admit that a boy born without it could possibly be his. My mother was faithful to you, father. She still is. You're the traitor." Neji turned towards him, and Hajimi was knocked to the ground by a blast of chakra..  
"You'd better learn your place, boy. I. Have. No. Son. Especially not one like you." He turned back to Hitonomi. "Attack the target at will." Hitonomi's anger was rising fast at Neji. So fast, her chakra was starting to become uncontrolable. Hajimi was also feeling the effects. He was healing fast and getting added chakra boosts from Hitonomi through the mark.  
"Neji, you're an asshole. You deserve to rot in hell. And I hope you do." She whispered through clenched teeth. Then Natalia prepared to dash towards Neji for a kill. Immediately, shuriken flew at her, and Natalia vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared around the shuriken's originator, and not even Lee's strength was able to pull her away, but it was only because of Lee that TenTen was not being crushed. Then Natalia moved to bite Lee, but Lee jumped away just in time, leaving TenTen to be pulverized. Meanwhile, Neji turned to Hajimi, having seen that the snake had come from the bag around Hajimi's shoulder. Hajimi had gotten up by now, so Neji moved to do one of his most classic moves- 64 points. Hajimi felt every blow that blocked off his chakra, and then felt his chakra reactivate immediately as Hitonomi's chakra forced his through the gaps. At the end of Neji's barrage, Hajimi filled his hand with more chakra than he could ever remember having before and thrust it into Neji's chest, bursting his heart. Neji looked up at him in shock, unbelievingly, and Hajimi looked at his hand with the same disbelief. Hitonomi gasped, taking in what just happened. Neji crumbled to the ground, to die in the next few minutes unless a medic nin happened to be nearby. That would be a miracle for Neji. Hitonomi called Natalia back, leaving TenTen in critical condition and Lee to help them both and then smiled, truely smiled at Hajimi. He was still in shock, since only a few seconds had passed by. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, earning a side-glance from him. She smiled again. "You did very well, Hajimi-chan. Let's go." She whispered as Natalia slithered up to rest once again on her shoulders. She turned and began walking away, followed shortly by Hajimi who gave his father one, believed to be, last glance.

* * *

As soon as the two were out of sight, medic-nin jumped down to do what they could for the injured. The Captain's heart was fixed after two days of intensive care, and the Second Lieutenent's bones took a full month to fix. It was among the worst disasters that Konoha had dealt with in decades. The Hokage saw it as the tip of the iceberg.

* * *

Hitonomi smiled as she walked with Hajimi. She knew he was freaking out on the inside, so she did what she could to help, which was more than she could say she did for some of the other sound ninja. She turned and smiled at him.  
"Hajimi, everything's going to be okay. You'll see. Things get easier from here on out." she said kindly. Hajimi glared at her from the corner of his eye, finally letting his hand fall to his side.  
"Obviously. Anything would be an improvement now." He paused for a moment. "So about Mitsukai..." Hitonomi smiled.  
"Ah, yes. Mitsukai. I believe she's hanging around a small food joint around here somewhere. She'll be alone and her left upperarm will be wrapped in a bandage. That's the mark. She's taking it worse than you, so I suggest you talk to her. About anything you want. Even what just happened with your father. She wont tell." Hitonomi said calmly. She smiled at Hajimi and walked away. "I'll see you soon, Hajimi-chan." She said as she waved. Hajimi nodded and moved in a different direction, trying to find Mitsukai. He found her quicker than he expected, at Ichiraku Ramen. He ducked under the curtain.  
"Hey, Chouji." The ex-shinobi smiled from the ramen pot.  
"Hi, Hajimi. I haven't seen you in a while. What's your pleasure?"  
"Chicken, as always. Just a small bowl, though, my appetite isn't so big today."  
"Really?" Chouji asked. "Any reason?"  
"Not much, really. Family problems." Chouji nodded knowingly and dropped the conversation. Hajimi genuinely liked Chouji. He seemed like a good person. But it was impossible to hold a conversation with him here, so he simply turned to Mitsukai in mock anger. "I really can't believe you didn't show up, Mitsukai. You promised that you'd train me this morning." Mitsukai glanced at Hajimi and managed a small smile.  
"Sorry Hajimi-chan. Things got...difficult this morning." She said quietly. Chouji gave Mitsukai another small bowl of beef ramen.  
"Thank you Chouji." she mumbled as she quickly ate it.  
"See if you can talk to her, Hajimi. I've been trying for an hour now. I know ninja. I was one. Something happened to Mitsukai." Chouji whispered to Hajimi. Hajimi nodded. "I'll tell you what, Mitsukai. We can go to the park and talk about it, ok? After all, we can always hold off training to another day." Mitsukai nodded and smiled.  
"Sure." She said. She stood and walked to the park with Hajimi. When they arrived, he leaned up against a tree.  
"So," he asked, "how'd she get you?" Mitsukai looked at Hajimi with alarm.  
"What?" She exclaimed.  
"Hitonomi. How'd she get you to join her?" He pulled up his shirt, revealing Hitonomi's mark. "Pain, for me. Never felt anything quite like it. Thought I was going to die. So I agreed to join her. But yours looks fresh. I can still see bruising on the edges of the bandage." Mitsukai gasped and gripped her arm. Then she sighed.  
"How much did it hurt?" She asked slowly. "Do you know what a broken limb feels like?" he asked. She nodded, so he finished his analogy. "About that. Ten times over. All over." Mitsukai shuttered.  
"I think I made a mistake..." She muttered. "I wish I had never met her."  
"You and me both," replied Hajimi heartlessly. "I killed my father today, thanks to her meddling." Mitsukai looked at Hajimi in shock. She then began to tear up.  
"I feel so foolish. She said she could revive my mother. But now I'm certain I'll never live to see that promise kept. And she has my allegience until the day one of us dies. What are we going to do Hajimi?" She said as she sat against a tree. He looked at her like she was crazy.  
"Live," he said. "That's all there is to do. Live on and do what we can. Whether or not you live to see your mother again is up to you and you alone. Me? I don't care as long as I get to fight somebody. I can't stay by my mom forever, anyways." Mitsukai started to cry.  
"What will I tell my father?" she whispered. She looked at Hajimi. "Are you certain he's dead? Your father, I mean." He shook his head.  
"How could he be alive? Would you survive if you had high velocity chakra going through your heart? I know anatomy. It's the only way I've gotten by as a Hyuuga. He's as dead as this branch." He kicked the offending branch aside. Mitsukai's eyes narrowed.  
"The odds are 653,000,000 to 1, but he could survive with the right medical treatment." She said as she stood. Hajimi's eyes widened.  
"How fast? Before we're out, or.... what? Because if he's on his feet by the time we leave... he's not going to be too happy. I didn't try to or anything, you know. It just happened..." His breath caught in his throat as he thought of what Neji could do to him if he didn't have Hitonomi's support.  
"If any ANBU medic or Tsunade healed him, days maybe." Mitsukai said. "However, maybe now he'll respect you. You beat him. That earns a lot of respect with him. Maybe he'll even accept you by the time this is over." She said hopefully. Truth was, Mitsukai and Hajimi had been good friends for a long time. No one ever knew though. But despite their past, Hajimi wasn't listening. Fear had nearly driven him past reasoning. Besides, it wasn't as if he'd ever cared about Neji's opinion of him anyways.  
"Arm," he mumbled, wringing his hands. Mitsukai looked at him in confusion.  
"Hajimi?" She whispered as she walked over to him. "You alright?"  
"Your arm," he clarified. "I need something to do to clear my head." Mitsukai gave him another confused look. "What do you want to do with my arm?" She asked. Hajimi looked at her unbelievingly, holding up a glowing green hand.  
"Heal. What else?" She sighed as she extended her arm out and unwrapped the bandages. Underneath them, were several almost black bruises, each the size of a baseball adorning her arm.  
"If you can, go for it. Were you able to heal your bruises? Mine aren't healing too well when I try to heal." she said quietly.  
"I got mine in a day while running on almost empty," he said as he put his hand on the bruise. "Plus, I had quite a few other wounds and actually wasted time and energy trying to get the mark to go away." She flinched as he started healing it. Whenever she tried to heal it, it would start out fine. Then it would start to ache. She wondered if Hajimi's had done that, but decided not to say anything unless it began to ache again. Hajimi, on the other hand, was having more trouble with Mitsukai's bruise than he had with his own. After only a minute, he almost lost half of his energy, and the bruise had begun to spread further. "Um... Mitsukai?" She sighed.  
"It's spreading again?" she said. Then she gritted her teeth. Her arm was aching again. Hajimi nodded. "Grr... I know. That's why I can't heal it. First everything feels fine, then the bruise spreads and my arm starts to ache very badly. I think i either have to let it heal, or Hitonomi has to heal it. There's nothing anyone else can do." She muttered. Then she turned to Hajimi. "So how bad is it?"  
"It absorbs chakra," Hajimi said. "I used five times as much energy as I should have." Mitsukai sighed and began to rewrap her arm.  
"Do you have any idea where Hitonomi might be?" Hajimi shook his head.  
"That girl does what she likes, but she won't leave without dragging us both with her. She'll show up eventually." Suddenly, an ANBU dropped down from the branches into their midst.  
"You're under arrest for the crime of conspiring to commit treason," he said.


	12. Chapter 12

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Then, out of nowhere, Hitonomi jumped and landed like a cat in front of Hajimi and Mitsukai. Her head shot up and she glared at the ANBU. Slowly, she rose to her full hight which was slightly taller than the ANBU.  
"Ya know, It's only treason if they actually do something. And I don't intend on having them do anything." She said mockingly. Then she pulled a kunai out and rushed the ANBU, stabbing him in the stomach before he could move. When she jumped back, the ANBU fell to the ground. The mask fell of, revealing Konohamaru. Mitsukai gasped and fell to her knees, shaking. Hajimi looked down at him, feeling a small amount of pity and guilt, but not much.  
"So what should we do with this body?" he asked. "I don't think he has any friends with him, but somebody will notice when he goes missing." Mitsukai looked at him in shock.  
"How can you say that!? She just killed the honorable grandson and all you're worried about is what to do with the body?!" She exclaimed. Instantly Hitonomi was in front of her with her hand over her mouth.  
"Be quiet. you'll attract unwanted attention. Hajimi understands the big picture. Now it's your turn." She whispered. She removed her hand and Mitsukai glared at Hitonomi. Htonomi smirked. "Now Mitsukai. That's no way to act." she said mockingly. Then she turned to Hajimi. "How fast can you dig?" She asked. He looked her blankly.  
"I don't. I've never bothered with strength training. Besides, he's your body. Use one of your kage techniques to get rid of it." She looked up.  
"Hmm.. I've never thought about that. I could just teleport him the bottom of some lake..." She mumbled. Hajimi shrugged.  
"Like I said- your problem. But before you head out, could you enlighten us poor peasants on what's up with Mitsukai's bruise?" Hitonomi walked over to Mitsukai's arm and swiftly cut the bandages off. Upon seeing the giant bruises, she smirked.  
"Well, you see I've been experimenting with different effects I could add to the fresh marks. So you two have been guinea pigs for me. I can heal it, I just don't feel like it right now." She said. Mitsukai now shook with anger as she resisted the urge to grab a kunai and attack Hitonomi. Hajimi just glared.  
"Congratulations, Miss Great Kage Sama. You've forced me another step from respect. Now I'll be that less effective. What a genius you must be." He turned around and started to leave the park. Hitonomi rolled her eyes and activated Hajimi's mark. Immediately, he lost his footing and tumbled to the ground, clutching his side in agony. Mitsukai gasped and began to get up to help him. Hitonomi immediately pulled her back.  
"You stay back! He brought this upon himself. I don't tolerate being insulted." She growled.  
"She's right, Mitsu," said Hajimi through gritted teeth. "I asked for this. But I'm not taking a single word back." Hitonomi's eyes narrowed.  
"Fine. Let's see how long you can take it." she spat at him. She raised the pain level to five times what it was. Hajimi's spine snapped straight, and he lay spreadeagled on the ground in a useless attempt to spread out the pain. His eyes stared out into nothingness as the pain consumed him and refused to let go. Part of him wanted to force himself through the darkness to beg for forgiveness. But his stubborness won out, and what little laziness he had was on the side of his stubborness as well. He stayed silent. Hitonomi stomped her foot and started to throw a temper tantrum. "Damn it!" She exclaimed. She doubled the pain to ten times the amount of the original pain level. What was left of him smiled as he blacked out and escaped the pain. Hitonomi screamed in frustration. Mitsukai pressed her back against the tree as she stared at Hitonomi in shock. '_She really is a killer..._' She thought. Hitonomi turned her angry gaze onto Mitsukai who flinched. Hitonomi took a deep breath and then nodded towards Hajimi. "Get him home. I'll deal with him when he wakes up. Just tell everyone that he fell asleep after training with you." Hitonomi muttered. Mitsukai nodded and walked over to Hajimi's unconcious form and picked him up and proceeded to jump to his house. Hitonomi sighed and decided to go and take her anger out on some civillians that wouldn't be missed...  
Hajimi woke up slung over Mitsukai's shoulder. He tapped her twice, signaling that he was awake. Mitsukai glanced up and set him down.  
"Ya know, that seemed rather stupid back there." She mumbled. Hajimi sulked under the disapproval of his friend.  
"Somebody had to do it. Hitonomi's a little girl, half the time. She needs to know that she won't get candy by screaming in the middle of the supermarket." He thought about this, and decided to drop the analogy. "Basically, she's my kage now, and I'd prefer her to be a reasonable one." Mitsukai thought about what she knew about Hitonomi.  
"I think she is reasonable, but she's too young for the job. So she has trouble with the responsibility. Would you be able to handle leading a village at the age of 15?" she asked. "I wouldn't. It's kind of like the Uchiha massacre. Itachi killed everyone at age thirteen. He was under so much pressure from his clan that he snapped. It's almost the same thing with Hitonomi. She was raised by Orochimaru as the ninja he wanted her to be. Then he left her the leader of the sound. It's probably that stress that makes her seem bipolar." She finished.  
"From what I heard, Itachi wasn't pressured, he was power hungry. Hitonomi, on the other hand, is stressed, but she should be able to handle it. Heck, with enough delegation, I could run THIS village. Besides, she's not IN the Sound Village, is she? Which implies that it can pretty much take care of itself without her. There's no reason for her to throw a tantrum over one little criticism." Mitsukai looked at him skeptically.  
"Kage's leave when necessary or for competitions. They usually leave orders or something behind. Besides, there is no way you could run this village. The more delegation you have, the more arguments you have and eventually chaos ensues. And power-hungry people are not born that way. It begins with the stress that Hitonomi has. When it gets to be too much, the they begin to think if they had the power, they wouldn't have to deal with the stress. They're usually wrong, but that is what they think." She explained. He looked at her in disgust.  
"Are you saying you want to be treated like a lab rat for the rest of your life? Because that's what she'll do, if you let her. I WON'T take back what I said, because I WON'T be looked down on like that. I just never thought that you'd argue for that kind of life." Mitsukai glared at Hajimi.  
"I don't! However, like you said, she IS our kage now. Whether we like it or not. I would feel much safer about that if i knew the reasoning behind the way she acts. Then I would be able to predict how she'll act. Besides, we're not lab rats for the rest of our lives. She learned from Orochimaru. He did his real experiments on people who wouldn't be missed immediately. Hitonomi won't waste us as lab rats." She said through gritted teeth.  
"I'm TWELVE, and I know human behavior better than you. She already tried an experiment on YOU- that bruise. Humans are creatures of habit. If she did it once, it's twice as likely she'll do it again, and twice more as likely again after that until it's next to impossible that either of us will survive. I am willing to die for insolence, but not for passiveness." Mitsukai sighed.  
"Hajimi, i just...I would feel a whole lot better about this if I just knew why she did it." She said as she sat down and grabbed some bandages out of her pocket. She then proceeded to begin rebandaging it. "It's easier to accept if I could explain it. I refuse to accept that Hitonomi chooses at random." She said.  
"And that's where you need to be the most cautious, Mitsukai," said Hajimi, finally calming down. "The moment that you refuse the possibility of something is when you're the most vulnerable." He smiled slightly. "Huh. I guess the Academy was good for something after all." She looked at Hajimi again, tears now in her eyes.  
"I guess that's why it's so easy for you. You aren't a leaf ninja. You never were. So you don't feel the betrayel I feel. I'd rather die than leave this village, but I doubt Hitonomi will allow that." She said shakilly. Hajimi looked down, away from Mitsukai's eyes.  
"You're right. I was never a part of this village, not really. That's what her dad did best- pull together all the people that didn't quite belong. Hitonomi saw that in me, and I can't say I'm glad of it. But I can't say I'm unhappy with it, either. You?" He shrugged. "You'll have to figure out your revelation on your own. I'm heading home." Mitsukai nodded. She rose and walked the other way, back to her house. '_Why did she choose me? what made me stand out?_' she thought. Then she remembered what Hitonomi had said. _**"I thought we could be friends."**_ Mitsukai stopped walking.  
"That's it." She mumbled. She looked in the direction of the forest, where Hitonomi was last. "When did your friend die?" She mumbled. Then she walked home in silence.

Hitonomi walked towards town, fuming. How dare he defy her! Was she not his kage after all?!  
"Little snot." She whispered. She looked around and found herself in the clean, up kept part of town. Her eyes narrowed in anger. She needed the dark parts of town. There she could find someone who wouldn't be missed. At least, not right away. She silently jumped onto the roof and proceeded to make her way to the slummy parts of town. She smirked when she found what she needed. She jumped down into an alleyway and closed her eyes. When she opened them, her eyes were as blue as a crystal made of the depths of the ocean. She smiled sweetly as she walked out. She quickly summed up everyone sitting on the side of the roads. The only one that seemed willing to get up and chase after Hitonomiin hopes of getting some money off her, whether Hitonomi gave it willingly or not, was a teenage girl. She looked angry and weak. But the glint of silver, hidden to most by her sleeve, told Hitonomi the truth. This girl was ready to fight for what she needed or what she wanted. She made eye contact with the girl for a brief moment and then sped up her pace. A false act that would lure the teen to follow. Sure enough, the girl got up moments after Hitonomi passed and began to follow at a decent pace. Hitonomi smirked. Hitonomi led the girl down an ally and then down more back roads, getting more and more secluded, until Hitonomi finally stopped at a dead end.  
"What do you have on you?" A dry, cracky voice said behind her. Hitonomi turned around and stared at the girl.  
"It doesn't matter to you." She said sweetly. The girl glared at Hitonomi.  
"Give it to me!" She exclaimed, pulling a knife from her sleeve. Hitonomi laughed. The girl took a step back, getting chills.  
"You don't understand. What's your name, girl?" She said. The girl swallowed before answering.  
"Anna." She whispered. Hitonomi laughed before disappearing and reappearing in front of her.  
"Well Anna, congratulations! You just crossed me while I am extremely pissed. You get to be my punching bag!" She said with a smile. Anna gasped and tried to run, but Hitonomi grabbed her and twisted her wrist so she had to drop the knife and so she had to come back. "Anna, darling, don't be going anywhere now. I'd hate for you to lose an arm this early in the game." Hitonomi said ruthlessly. She laughed and she quickly jumped into the abandoned warehouse they were next too. Hitonomi threw Anna to the ground and laughed as she tried to get up. Hitonomi unsheathed her father's katana. Anna watched the blade with wide eyes.  
"Let me go." She said quietly. Hitonomi laughed.  
"Let you go? But I haven't even done anything yet! And I even went through all the trouble of getting one of you to follow me just for this!" She said sarcastically. Anna shivered and started to back away. Hitonomi smirked and ran at her, slashing her with her katana. Anna screamed as she fell back. Hitonomi sighed. "Music to my ears." She mumbled. She jumped at Anna again as she was climbing to her feet. She screamed as she fell with another slash into her stomach. Anna looked up at Hitonomi.  
"_Monster_." She said to Hitonomi.

_**~*~ Flash~*~**_

__

Nine year old Hitonomi glared at the girl who was her best friend. Until she tried to convince Hitonomi that her Oto-sama was an evil man. Hitonomi refused to listen.  
"SHUT UP KARIN!" She screamed. Karin glared back.  
"He's vicious, Hitonomi! Why can't you see that?" Karin spat at her. Hitonomi glared at Karin and in the blink of an eye, slashed her with a kunai. Karin fell to the ground, screaming. When she looked at her wound and back at Hitonomi, her eyes held surprise and hate. "MONSTER!" She screamed.

_~*~Flash~*~_

Hitonomi smirked at Anna.  
"Just like Karin." She whispered to herself. Hitonomi laughed as she approached Anna again. Anna crawled backwards away from Hitonomi.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Karin crawled back from Hitonomi.  
"Stop it Hitonomi!" She yelled. Hitonomi glared down at Karin.  
"You want to hurt Oto-san. I won't allow it." She muttered. She grabbed a kunai and charged Karin again. Karin screamed as she flew back, a kunai embedded in her side.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Anna screamed as Hitonomi's kunai was too deep to pull out. Hitonomi laughed again.  
"Now, Anna. You're the one who chose to follow me. So you really should shut up." She said sarcastically. Anna glared at Hitonomi and slowly pulled herself up. "Oh please Anna. I'm a Kage. You're not even a ninja." She said.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Karin pulled herself up.  
"STOP IT!" She yelled. Hitonomi laughed.  
"You're still an academy student. I'm a chunin! You started it, now I'll finish it!" She said. She ran at Karin while throwing several shuriken at her. Karin tried to dodge, and successfully missed most. But three hit her. Two in her left arm, one in her right leg.  
"Fine! Let's fight then." Karin said and charged Hitonomi.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Anna had many shuriken embedded in her body now. She wasn't a ninja and couldn't dodge nearly all of them. But she was able to run still. She used some of her tricks she learned on the streets to successfully get by Hitonomi. Hitonomi laughed.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Hitonomi laughed as Karin got past her. She was good, but nowhere near as good as Hitonomi. She teleported in front of Karin and slashed her with a kunai. Karin fell to the ground with a gasp. She didn't get up.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Anna fell to the ground, not moving. She was silent, like Karin had been. Hitonomi turned around and started walking away as she tried to block out the rest of her memories of that night. They would only make her weak and she couldn't afford to be weak right now.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Hitonomi gasped as she realized Karin was laying dead in front of her. She fell to her knees.  
"Oh no... Karin! No. I'm sorry! Please... wake up..." She said as she started to cry. Someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Hitonomi looked up into the face Orochimaru. "Oto-san." She mumbled. Orochimaru smiled at her.  
"Don't worry Hito-chan." He said as he pulled her up. "Besides, things get easier from here on out." He whispered. Hitonomi sniffled and looked back at Karin. Orochimaru made her look away. "Don't ever look back. What's happened has happened. You can't change that." He said. Hitonomi nodded and walked away with her father.

_**~*~Flash~*~**_

Hitonomi walked away from the warehouse, smiling. She never looked back since that day. And she never would.


	13. Chapter 13

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hajimi was almost home when he realized that he had left with the intention of getting supplies. Of course, Hitonomi had claimed to have traveling supplies under control, but with the way she was, he wasn't sure if she really had anything. There certainly wasn't anything in her shoulderbag, the only thing that she had visible that could hold supplies for three people. And even if she did have some way to hide them away, there was a good chance that she'd deny him them in revenge for what he had said today. Once again, he'd take care of him. There wasn't anyone else that could be trusted. On his way to the store, he noticed the hospital out of the corner of his eye and came to a halt. Remembering what Mitsukai had said, he circled the hospital, trying to catch a glimpse into rooms inside, on the offchance that his father may be there. The way he saw it, he could either be certain of his father's status or be wondering about it. His answer came on the second level of the hospital.  
"So...?" Hajimi recognized the voice as belonging to Lee, but without the brisk military edging.  
"They'll both be fine," a voice replied with the reassurance of a professional medic. Hajimi froze in panic.  
"We'll keep the captain under intensive care. The field medics did a good job patching him up, but it will take a few days getting the blood cleaned out of his body. Otherwise internal clotting could do what the heart didn't. We'll have the lieutenant's bones set by tomorrow, so you can visit her then. However, she will need to stay here for a few weeks until her bones heal all of the way."  
"Alright," Lee said, obviously still worried. The doctor's voice then quieted, and Hajimi had to move closer to hear.  
"...what happened to them, and I'm not entirely sure I want to, but Hokage-sama will. You'd better go report to him. Then get home for some rest. Doctor's orders."  
"Right," Lee said, back to his normal self. A second later, Lee left, leaving Hajimi to drop down the the ground in shock. Neji was going to be fine. The stun that being a murderer brought lifted, only to be replaced by a suffocating fear. He had absolutely no illusions of what his father thought of him. He'd use every and any excuse to make sure that Hajimi was as far away as possible. Including beyond the mortal veil. Suddenly, something connected. Lee was going to report to the Hokage. Even without Neji being awake, if he got the wrong- or the right- information about what happened, Hajimi would have a manhunt on his tail by the end of the day. He moved immediately, trying to get to the Hokage's office as quickly as possible, but when he arrived, Lee's report was already over. Hajimi snuck up to the window to listen.  
"...would you suggest?" asked the Hokage.  
"Keep a closer watch on the boy," replied Lee. "He's not a threat, but the fugitive seems to be in his company far too often to be coincidence."  
"What about what happened? He did attack the captain, didn't he?"  
"It was the girl, Hokage-sama. She goaded both of them into attacking each other." There was a pause that seemed to contain the remainder of Hajimi's life in it.  
"Good," replied the Hokage. "I trust your judgement. Make it happen." Hajimi relaxed considerably, feeling his lifespan expand- by a couple days, at the very least.  
"Yes, Hokage-sama," said Lee. Before he could leave, though, the Hokage stopped him.  
"Lee?"  
"Yes?"  
"Get some rest. I'm sure you need it."  
"Alright, Naruto." Once Lee had left, Hajimi heard the Hokage walk back to his desk, sit down, and begin to talk.  
"She's dangerous, you know that now." Hajimi realized that he had been found out, but held still regardless. "Stay away from her. Kiba's told me about you. He says that you're the best student he's ever encountered, even if you are the hardest to teach. Don't destroy your future. And get home. I'm sure you need some rest, too." Hajimi nodded to himself, and prepared to leave.  
"She's the Otokage," he said as he jumped away. Naruto paused in his work for a moment. Otogakure again. He'd thought he'd been rid of that problem for the last twenty years.  
Hajimi returned home forty minutes later, weighed down with bandages and food that would keep for a few weeks. He thought over the Hokage's words, realizing them to be wise. But Hajimi had already given his word. He couldn't back out now.

* * *

Naruto looked upon his jounin with the cool discipline that was expected of him. There were only four that he didn't know personally, which said a lot. He read down the list.  
"Inuzuka Kiba, Academy sensei. Here. Aburame Shino, ANBU reconnaissance. Out on a mission. Hyuuga Hinata. Unable to attend due to clan duties." Everybody knew why Hinata couldn't serve as a jounin. As the only head family Hyuuga member left, and without even a husband yet,she had to stay safe inside the clan complex. Naruto didn't understand why someone hadn't asked her out on a date at the very least. Any guy would be lucky to have her. But that wasn't his concern, so he continued down the list. "Yamanaka Ino, first-class ANBU medic. Here. Hyuuga Neji, captain of the ANBU. Here. Rock Lee, first lieutenant of the ANBU. Here. Tenten, second lieutenant of the ANBU. Here." He had to arrange for the meeting to take place inside the hospital for her convenience, as she was still hooked up to a network of slings. "Sai, ANBU reconnaissance. Out on a mission. Hatake Kakashi-se-. Here. Mitarashi Anko. Here." He put down the paper, suddenly annoyed. "Why am I bothering with this? We all know who's here and who's not and why. Let's get to the point. The first thing that all of you must know is that I have it on good authority that this Hitonomi is not simply Orochimaru's daughter. She is his successor."  
"What authority?" asked Neji.  
"Private authority," replied Naruto strictly. Mitsukai smiled, having a good idea who told him, and finding it very amusing that Neji was being kept in the dark.  
"Well that's just peachy." Tsunade said. She had made it a habit ever since Hitonomi showed up to go to every meeting that occured.  
"Tsunade, before you throw a fit over this, would you mind explaining what exactly happened at your birthday? You never did elaborate on what Hitonomi actually said." Kakashi said, sounding half bored. Those who weren't at the party looked at Tsunade with interest.  
"Basically she said that she's in a position to destroy Konoha and if she doesn't get what she wants, she's going to do just that. The only problem is she never said what she wanted exactly. She did say that it would hit Konoha pretty hard. So either way, we lose." She said. Mitsukai tried to lower her nerves. She knew what Hitonomi wanted, and trying to hide it from a room full of experienced Ninja who had watched her grow up was unbelievably difficult.  
"Why are we bothering with this!?" demanded Neji. "We KNOW what she wants. It's that boy. If we use him as bait, we can destroy them both!"  
"Neji, your heart," chided Ino carefully. Neji's hand went to his bandaged chest and he began to relax somewhat. Kiba on the other hand, shook his head carefully.  
"No. Not Hajimi. He's not a traitor. He'd never do it." Naruto looked at him curiously.  
"How do you know this?"  
"I'm his teacher. I should know. And what I know is that Hajimi has no loyalties to speak of."  
"And because of this we're to assume that he hasn't betrayed us all?" asked Neji, careful to keep his blood pressure down.  
"Allow me to clarify. He has NO loyalties. No hopes for power, no special hatred for anybody- besides possibly yourself, sir. Nothing for Hitonomi to grab onto. Every attempt that has been made to try to force him to do something or to accept help in improving himself has been thrown aside without prejudice. His only desire is to prove that he can be better than everyone else on his own terms." Mitsukai sighed.  
"What's to say she can't play on that desire right there?" She asked. Naruto looked at her now.  
"What do you mean?" Naruto Asked. Mitsukai hesitated.  
"Hajimi and I have been sort of friends for a long time now. I've trained with him numerous times. Lee, what level can you train with a training post?" She asked.  
"80%" He said proudly.  
"Now long have you trained at that level?"  
"Four years."  
"Well Hajimi is at a seventy-something-percent. He's twelve." She said. The room went silent, trying to imagine what this boy would be like at their respective ages.  
"Wow," Tenten said stared at nothing, not able to imagine why he hadn't seen it.  
"Are....are you sure, Mitsukai?" Mitsukai nodded, although nobody was paying attention to her at this point. Kiba shook his head. "Sounds like he's doing well enough for himself. He doesn't need Hitonomi." Good enough to hit hokage level himself by the time he finishes the chuunin exam, he thought to himself.  
"No. But she needs him. She wants to k-..to destroy Konoha in some way, right? Well if she could find a way to at least control him, then she would have someone that could easily match our skill on her side. The only difference is that Hajimi is younger. Doesn't neccesarily have the experience, but has the talent and ability that some of us are at least _starting_ to lack. He'd be able to be a distraction, or at least a way to take some of us down without wasting her energy." She said. Though she almost slipped in Hitonomi's real plan, she prayed it wasn't noticed. Naruto nodded.  
"So you agree with Neji, Mitsukai? You believe that Hajimi is a threat as well?"  
"NO!" She exclaimed, losing control of her emotions for a second. "He's only a _potential _threat. Eliminate Hitonomi and the potential goes away. She's the catalyst. The manipulator. She's pulling the strings. She starts everything. Whatever happens that he takes part in, isn't his fault. Everything is Hitonomi. I'm positive." She said. Kakashi eyed his daughter, noticing how she hid certain details. Something was seriously off.  
"So how do we eliminate Hitonomi, Mitsukai?" asked Naruto, also noting the strange way that the speech was pulled off, as well as the certainty that filled Mitsukai as she said it. She sighed.  
"I'm working on that part. That part's harder to figure out since no one's actually fought her. And then it's a matter of getting her to be serious about it as well. She's...always playing with us. She treats everything like a nine year old would." She mumbled. Anko watched Mitsukai.  
"You know this. For a fact." she said. Tension rose in the room as Mitsukai hesitated.  
"Well...Her and I got along before we knew who she was and Hitonomi said..well. It's hard to explain. But bottom line is i've been trying to talk with her. And I said the wrong thing and she attacked. Fortunately she was too angry to be smart about her attacks and I got away." She mumbled. Kakashi rounded on his daughter.  
"You know you should have stayed away from her!" He exclaimed. Mitsukai smiled.  
"This is EXACTLY why I didn't bother to tell you!" She exclaimed.  
"Everybody is dismissed," said Naruto, looking older than he should. "Mitsukai, you will fetch Hajimi and the both of you will explain EVERYTHING in my office. I can't risk this village." That said, he left, followed by everyone else in the room save for Mitsukai and Tenten. There wasn't a single person that didn't give Mitsukai the same look before they left. It said: "I thought I could trust you. But I guess I was wrong." Mitsukai sighed and left the room in search of Hajimi.


	14. Chapter 14

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Matsukai walked in to Hajimi's classroom, interupting a monotone lecture from Shikamaru.  
"Oh hi Mituskai." He said, sounding bored. She smiled at him.  
"Hi Shikamaru-san. I need to take Hajimi with me. Request of the Hokage." She said. Shikamaru sighed.  
"Whatever. This teaching thing is such a drag." he mumbled.  
"Oh, shut it," said Hajimi as he got up. "You're just mad that I won't let you make your kid your favorite. Sounds like that's going to end, though." He followed Mitsukai out the door, changing his voice to a soft whisper. "So?"  
"We're both in deep shit." she whispered back.  
"What did you do?" Hajimi whispered angrily.  
"I tried to defend you, the topic got switched to Hitonomi, I said something I shouldn't have said, now everyone hates me." Mitsukai said sadly as she walked with Hajimi out of the school.  
"Not everybody," said Hajimi. "I'm sure about that." Then he leapt up to the roofs, traveling to what just might be the toughest interview of his life. Mitsukai jumped next to Hajimi on their way to see Naruto.  
"Alright you two. What exactly is going on here?" Naruto said, sounding slightly angry. On the way to the office, Hajimi had thought of every lie he could possibly tell, but in the end decided against all of them. He pulled up his shirt, exposing the mark on his side.  
"That is the mark of Orochimaru Hitonomi," he stated. "I fought her, I lost, and she gave me this. She now has the power to cause me immense pain whenever she wants." Mitsukai sighed and removed the bandages on her arm, revealing her now healed mark.  
"I wasn't thinking straight and she played with my emotions." She said quietly. Naruto breathed in deeply. "So are you saying that you're both being controlled by this person? That I should kill you both now for the safety of the village?" Hajimi nodded.  
"That would be the normal course of action, sir. However, I would advise against it."  
"Why?"  
"I'm not fond of the idea of me dying," he said, as though the matter of his betrayal was of no consequence. Mitsukai tried to suppress a fit of laughter. Naruto glared at her until she calmed down.  
"Also, you won't be able to. Even if we agree to it, **she** won't. Like you said, she controls us. I hate the fact that she does, but I can't change it." Mitsukai said.  
"Basically," said Hajimi, "there are two people that she wants dead- I can't say who- and us two on her side. If she doesn't get both those things, she'll settle for the destruction of the entire village." Mitsukai nodded. Naruto bowed his head down in thought. "So there's absolutely nothing we can do?" he asked. Hajimi nodded, and Naruto returned it.  
"Alright. Dismissed. And do what you can."  
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the two responded in chorus, and left.  
Mitsukai walked with Hajimi.  
"So what do you think will happen to us the next time we meet up with Hitonomi?" Mitsukai mumbled.  
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" came an angry voice. The duo stopped walking and watched as Hitonomi flipped down from a tree.  
"What did the two of you talk to Naruto about?" She asked venomously.  
"We told him everything but the identies of the targets," replied Hajimi.  
"We couldn't think of any other way." Hitonomi's eyes turned murderous towards Hajimi.  
"Ya know, you are really getting annoying as hell." She mumbled.  
"Don't be angry with him, Hitonomi-sama. It was my fault. I slipped in a room full of ANBU and jounin. But if it makes you happier, they all hate me now." She said hastly. Hitonomi's glare was turned to Mitsukai now.  
"That's what you chose, Hitonomi," Hajimi said. "One person that's too much of a bastard for his own good and a jounin that is too honest for her own good. You chose us. Stop complaining about it." Hitonomi sighed and rolled her eyes. Then, surprising both Mitsukai and Hajimi, smiled uncontrolably.  
"You're right. Besides, now that I think about it, This works nicely!" She said cheerily. She turned around and started walking away. Hajimi and Mitsukai exchanged a confused glance and then Hajimi shrugged it off. "You two coming?" Hitonomi called. Mitsukai quickly followed, along with Hajimi, who stayed only a few steps behind.

Hitonomi smiled as she walked with her two _new friends._ She giggled.  
"What?" Hajimi said, slightly aggravated. Mitsukai sighed.  
"What are we going to do now, Hitonomi-sama?" Mitsukai said. Hitonomi smiled maliciously.  
"You two will go back home. Hajimi, start separating yourself from your mother. Mitsukai, patch things up with your father and then sever your ties with this town. I'm going after Jiraiya today." She said all too happily.  
"Done and done," said Hajimi as he turned around again, heading home. Mitsukai looked at Hitonomi nervously.  
"Hitonomi-sama, please. Don't kill them." She whispered. Hitonomi smiled.  
"I must. It's what my Oto-sama wanted." She said.  
Mitsukai looked at her, frightened, "Very well, Hitonomi-sama. You do what you feel you must." Then she turned and left for home, Hitonomi smiled.  
"Say goodbye Jiraiya.. You will not live to see the sunrise tomorrow."

Hitonomi sat outside in a tree inside the growing estate belonging to Jiraiya and family. She watched the family happily go about their business as the day turned into night. Jiraiya was constantly acting like a fool. A senile old fool. When the last of the family went to bed, she quietly went in the open window. Amazing how foolish the family had grown. She walked over to Jiraiya, soundly sleeping in his bed. She walked up to him, while grabbing her kunai. She lifted her arm and smirked at the sleeping old fool.  
"Goodbye." She whispered. She brought the kunai crashing down, only to have her wrist grabbed when it was a millimeter away from his heart. She gasped as his eyes met hers and she saw not a senile old fool, but a ninja ready and alert.  
"I should have known from the beginning, child of Orochimaru." He said calmly. Hitonomi smirked.  
"Wonderful to see you back to your old self. Perhaps this will be more entertaining than I believed." She said happily.  
"You won't get away from me. You realize that, right?" Hitonomi laughed.  
"I believe it's the other way around." She said happily. She wretched her arm away from him and jumped back as he jumped up. She snorted at his choice of pajamas. Light blue with puppy dogs all over.  
"Does your _granddaughter_ dress you?!" she said as she tried not to laugh. He scowled at her before grabbing several kunai. From where, Hitonomi failed to see. He charged her silently as she jumped back and out the window. After a moment, he followed her, now properly dressed and equipped. Hitonomi laughed as he played offense. She began doing hand seals as she ran. "Remember this?! Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" She yelled. A powerful explosion of air sent Jiraiya falling to the ground. Hitonomi laughed. A light went on in the house, but neither of them paid any heed. Jiraiya jumped up and smiled.  
"I guess I'm a bit out of practice. What was I thinking when I retired?" He said.  
"You _weren't_ thinking." She said happily. Jiraiya smiled and charged Hitonomi whiled doing hand signs.  
"Hair needle barrage!" He yelled. A large amount of his hair turned into needles and flew at Hitonomi. Hitonomi attempted to dodge, but the large amount made it difficult and Hitonomi received several cuts on her body.  
"Ashley, run and get Tsunade-san and Hokage-sama! Quickly!" A woman said. Hitonomi glanced over and saw a woman that looked to be in her thirties talking to Jiraiya's granddaughter. '_Her mother perhaps_?' Hitonomi thought. Both Jiraiya and Hitonomi ran at each other with weapons of choice now. Kunai clashed, the sound of metal on metal ringing throughout the night. Again. Again. Again. Finally, Jiraiya was able to force Hitonomi's kunai was forced away from her. Hitonomi took a step back, glaring at Jiraiya.  
"Jiraiya!" A call came from the side. Both the fighters glanced over to see Tsunade watching. Hitonomi now smirked at Jiraiya.  
"Tsunade, stay back! I don't know what she might do." He yelled to her. She laughed and did hand seals too quickly for anyone to see. She kneeled and placed both palms on the ground. A dark purple colored barrier rose quickly around the two fighters. "Damn it!" Muttered Jiraiya as he couldn't get out in time. Hitonomi laughed.  
"Now Jiraiya, let's finish this." She whispered. They both started doing hand signs at the same time. "Hidden Shadow Many Snakes Hand!" She yelled as he yelled at the same time,  
"Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu!" Snakes and vines hit each other. Jiraiya focused on the jutsu, not realizing it was a decoy. Three shadow clones jumped behind him. He glanced back and grabbed three kunai. The three fakes laughed and ran at him. He spun and hit one, who went poof. The other two charged from the sides. Jiraiya went to hit both, but one dodged in time and hit him square in the gut. His jutsu was canceled and snakes hit him. The clone went poof as she watched him fall. Hitonomi calmly walked over to Jiraiya who was having trouble getting back up.  
"Feeling old?" She asked. "Perhaps that is to be expected. After all, an 80-something year old ninja fighting a fifteen year old ninja is bound to go to the younger one's favor." She said as she pulled out several kunai. Jiraiya glanced away for a second, but that was all Hitonomi needed. Jiraiya gasped as her multiple kunai were imbedded in his chest. He fell back to the ground. Hitonomi unsheathed her sword.  
"That's Kusanagi!" Tsunade explained. Jiraiya laughed quietly.  
"So this is it, huh Hitonomi? Just tell me one thing." He said. Hitonomi smiled.  
"Why not?" She said happily.  
"What happened to your father?" He asked. She laughed.  
"When I was thirteen, he taught me his body transfer jutsu. He told me to use it on him. Kind of like an early birthday present." She said quietly so only Jiraiya could hear. He laughed.  
"Brilliant." He mumbled.  
"Glad you think so." She said sarcastically before cutting him with her blade. The gash in his chest spilled his blood all over the ground and Hitonomi took a step back so not to step in it. She watched the last breathe leave his body and then turned and walked away, her barrier slowly going down. She smirked at Tsunade. "Your next." She mouthed. Then she jumped away.


	15. Chapter 15

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hajimi heard the bells as soon as they started ringing. He stopped training and started heading home. After all, he knew what they meant. A murder had been committed inside the village. All ninja were to hunt down the killer and all non-ninja were to go home and out of the way. More importantly, if Hitonomi was wounded bad enough, she'd need Hajimi's help. He doubted that it would get back, but he'd be ready just in case. After all, even if she didn't need medical assistance, she'd still brag. Sure enough, when Hajimi got home and walked in his room, there was Hitonomi on his bed. She was covered in blood! She smiled at Hajimi.  
"Don't worry, It's Jiraiya's." She said happily.  
"How tough was it?" Hajimi asked, sitting down next to her and doing his best to erode the blood that was staining his blanket. She thought about it for a moment and smiled.  
"It was one of the more decents fights I've fought since I took over my father's body. I found it very fun. I wasn't expecting my presence to re-awaken the ninja in him. That was a certainly a surprise." She said calmly as she reached for her bag.  
"But it was a little too tough to take out the pair of them at once," muttered Hajimi as his eyes went to her hand.  
"Oh I was never planning on getting them both at once. Tsunade is still a capable ninja. I'll go after her in a few days." she said as she pulled out a new kimono out of her bag. She stood and stripped down to her catsuit, which for some reason didn't have blood on it, and slipped on her knew kimono. "Besides, Now she knows I'm after her. It will be so much more fun this way!" She exclaimed as she pulled out a smaller bag from her big bag and started doing her make-up. "Also, if I killed both at once, we'd have to leave now. Do you want to leave on schedule or abrutly?" She asked calmly.  
"You're right," said Hajimi. "It's better to stay on schedule. But still, me and Mitsukai are going to get hell from Naruto now, wondering who the other person is, although he probably knows." Hitonomi smirked.  
"Of course he knows. He was there just now." She said as she put her make-up away.  
"He'll summon us anyways," said Hajimi. "People tend to do pointless things." Sure enough, there was a knock at the main door. Hitonomi smiled.  
"Huh. You're right. That's Mitsukai. You should answer that." She said as she laid back down on his bed. Hajimi nodded, running out the door and taking a flying leap down the stairs to cut off his mom.  
"Sorry, mom. Mitsukai said she'd be coming over today. I'm a bit excited." Smiling, he opened the door. "Hey, Mitsukai," he said. "I'll show it to you upstairs, since I can't be outside right now, okay?"She smiled and nodded and walked up the stairs with Hajimi. She sighed when she walked in the room.  
"Why am I not surprised to see you here Hitonomi?" She asked. Hitonomi smiled.  
"How are you Mitsukai?" She asked sweetly.  
"Frustrated. You murdering Jiraiya woke me up." she said bitterly. Hitonomi laughed.  
"It wasn't quite that bad for me," Hajimi said. "I was training." Mitsukai looked at him with disbelief.  
"It's 1:30 in the morning! What the hell? Do you sleep?!" She said jokingly. Hajimi shrugged.  
"That's what classtime's for. Didn't you ever learn that?" Mitsukai laughed and then her smile fell as she remembered why she was here.  
"So. Lord Hokage is pissed. And sad. And the rest of them hate us both now. We've been summoned to go see Lord Hokage and every jounin is going to be their, glaring at us." She said slowly. Then she smiled. "So let's go!" She said sarcastically. Hitonomi smirked.  
"That could be entertaining!" She said quietly.  
"I don't get why they're so mad," muttered Hajimi as he opened the window.  
"Jiraiya's been on deathwatch for a month now. It was only a matter of time." Mitsukai glared at him.  
"It's the fact that he was _murdered. _If he had simply passed away, or if a certain someone had made it LOOK like he just passed away, we wouldn't be here now." She said as she jumped out the window towards the Hokage's office. Hajimi followed her, offering his rebuttal.  
"But the fact is that whether he's killed by Hitonomi or time doesn't really make him any more or less dead. Dead's dead." Mitsukai sighed.  
"Ya know, that kind of thinking might just be the reason why you never fit in here." She said as they got to the stairs to the tower. "Now remember, don't bother to look at any other ninja. They're all pissed and want to blame us. We need to give them every reason to think the opposite." She said as they climbed the stairs. As soon as they walked in the door, a torrent of blame, insults, and threats hit them. It seemed as though the only people that weren't eager to have their heads on a stick were the people whom it most concerned- Naruto and Tsunade, who sat silently side-by-side. Hajimi took it all in, absorbing every insult, every little hatred, until he was ready to let it go.  
"SHUT UP!" With those words, the strength of the rage of the others scattered until there was silence. "Look," Hajimi said, calming down as well, "no matter what you have to say in the matter WE are NOT to blame. Hitonomi saw me fight, decided she wanted me, and TOOK me. She met Mitsukai, decided she wanted HER, and she TOOK her. Likewise, she knew that Jiraiya and Tsunade were her father's rivals, decided she wanted to kill them, and she will do her best to TAKE THEIR LIVES. You want to stop her? Then stop her. But you should know that Hitonomi is like a child. If she doesn't get what she wants, she will throw a tantrum. In this case, a tantrum of sannin proportions." Mitsukai laughed and nodded in agreement.  
"Oh yeah. That is the perfect way to describe her attitude." She said, trying to control herself. The room was silent as everyone glared at Mitsukai.  
"What's it like to fight her?" Tsunade said, breaking the silence.  
"I don't know. Never got a chance to fight her myself. Hajimi?" Mitsukai said, looking at her friend. Hajimi shrugged.  
"She held back on me. I managed to graze her. But the giant shadow snake was impossible. Using kaiten inside of it didn't even stun it." Tsunade yelled in frustration.  
"So all you can tell me is not to get eaten by the giant shadow snake!?" She exclaimed as she rubbed her temples. Hajimi shrugged.  
"She's good enough to kill Jiraiya and she didn't kill me. You can't expect me to have accurate infor-" Hajimi was interrupted by a hand slamming down.  
"Why are we listening to them?"Neji asked. "They're not Konoha ninja. They're HER ninja. Obviously, they'd do their best to protect her."  
"Obviously, if that was our goal, this would have been a game of denial rather than basic information," responded Hajimi, looking his father in the eye. "We're giving you the information needed for YOU to get the best results possible out of this little mess. As of now, Hitonomi doesn't hold all that much more of my respect than the Hokage." Mitsukai nodded.  
"And she holds even less of mine." She said.  
"Neji, be quiet. I know your view. Hell, everyone knows your views. Have for the past 12 years. Frankly I just want to know what I'm being forced to go up against. She killed Jiraiya in about half an hour. I would like to at least live!" Tsunade yelled. Mitsukai smiled.  
"When you fight her, just keep your distance. Try and work long range if you can. Most of her attacks are close range. And if she vanishes, don't look for her. Just be extra alert." Mitsukai said sweetly. Naruto looked around.  
"Is there anyone in this room that disagrees with the idea that there's nothing that a majority of us can do on this matter?" Tsunade and Neji were the only ones with hands up or, for that matter, heads up. Most of the shinobi had their heads bowed down in shame, and at least one had his head bowed down in sleep. "Those with their hands down may be dismissed. The rest of us need to discuss." Ninja were jumping and trudging and shaking for several minutes until the room was left with only Naruto, Tsunade, Neji, Mitsukai, and Hajimi. Naruto looked at Mitsukai and Hajimi. "I thought I said for everyone to go."  
"We assumed that we were still under investigation, sir," responded Hajimi calmly. Naruto smiled, a remnant of his mispent youth touching his face for a brief instant.  
"Not anymore. Not tonight, at least. Dismissed." Mitsukai paused.  
"Sir, may I ask a question?" She said nervously.  
"Yes?" asked Naruto hesitantly.  
"What going to happen when Hitonomi leaves? She _is_ planning to leave in about 4 days. What will you do then?" She asked. She tried her best to make it sound like a worry for the village, but it was really a worry for Hajimi and herself.  
"We'll forget, and forgive, for the time being," Naruto said. Then his eyes drew to Neji. "Officially, at the very least. Reality takes a bit more time." She smiled and nodded her thanks to him and then turned and left with soon as they were down the stairs, She glanced at him.  
"Go back home and see if you can convince, or trick, Hitonomi into letting us stay here. Whatever works." She mumbled and the two went their seperate ways.

Hajimi got home without much trouble to find Hitonomi still there, awaiting news.  
"We told them the basics," he said to her unasked question. "'Keep your heads down and you'll get a light sprinkle instead of a storm'." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Please don't blame her. She likes this village. She's found her place. She doesn't want to leave. She wanted me to try to convince you to change your mind. But it wouldn't work, would it?" Hitonomi smiled.  
"Nope!" She said cheerfully. She sat up and swung her feet over the bed and just sat there, swinging her feet.  
"Ya know, I wonder what will happen when the Hokage realizes that Mitsukai's question was about what happens when you both leave?" She mumbled. Hajimi's eyes widened, and the ever more familiar sense of fear settled into his bones.  
"What do you mean?"  
"When Mitsukai asked her question, I could tell by his tone that he assumed that you two would still be here when I leave. He doesn't realize you're leaving. So he doesn't realize that he'll have to send hunter nin. They'll never find us of course." She said as she grabbed an apple out of her bag.  
"Maybe he doesn't want to realize it. We have to go. He knows that. But..." Hajimi shook his head, avoiding the thoughts. "You got another one of those?" he asked, indicating the apple. She smiled and grabbed another one and tossed it at Hajimi.  
"I told you, I have everything we'll need for our trip." She said sweetly. She sighed.  
"I hope Naruto does realize it. I would hate to upset him more than I must." She said quietly. Hajimi stared down at the apple in his hand, as though the idea of it helped him think.  
"You sound like you care more about this place than me. Why? Your father didn't, that's for sure." Hitonomi smiled. "Yes, but I'm not my father. I'm stronger, smarter, faster, and more compassionate. Like my father, I use snakes and I look like him. Unlike my father, I don't like to destroy lives without good reason." She said sweetly as she ate her apple.  
"Huh," said Hajimi, trying to settle for something appropriate. Finally, he decided on an old classic. "Funny old thing, life," he said, finally taking a bite of apple. Hitonomi smiled.  
"Yes. Very funny indeed." She threw the apple away and walked over to the window. Natalia slithered up to rest on her shoulders. "You should rest. The next couple days are going to be stressfull for this village." She said calmly and then jumped out of the window towards Hokage tower.  
Hitonomi silently landed on top of Naruto's office and sat down. She had come to hear the important parts of the conversation between Naruto, Neji, and Tsunade.  
"We don't know ANYTHING about the boy." Neji said below her."The ONLY thing we learned from Kiba was that he couldn't be trusted, so why are we trusting him?"  
"Hajimi has nothing to do with this," responded Naruto sternly.  
"Nothing? He was the first person that this Hitonomi picked up! Doesn't this mark him as unstable? If we let him go, he'll make a lot more trouble than what two deaths can bring, begging your pardon, Tsunade-sama."  
A slight pause and then, "We don't know why Hitonomi picked your son, Neji. We don't know how she thinks. You can't assume he's an immediate threat. You can't assume he'll cause trouble. The only trouble _he's_ caused was _your_ fault." Tsunade said.  
"That HAJI is not mine!" Neji yelled. By the way he said it, everyone inside the room could tell that he hadn't meant it to be the boy's name, but rather the word. Haji. Shame. Someone sighed. At the same time it could be heard that a chair was sent to the floor.  
"GROW UP NEJI! Hajimi is one hell of a ninja! He deserves your recognition! Does it occur to you that Hitonomi might have chosen him because she doesn't like the way you treat him?!" Tsunade exclaimed. Hitonomi smiled. Then there was silence again, and a movement in the corner of Hitonomi's eye. A brat at his best, running away from the problem. Then the conversation continued despite him.  
"Maybe it's better if Hajimi leaves..." Naruto started, half thinking. Tsunade sighed.  
"No. That wont help anything. They need to learn how to work out their problems. Preferably now or they'll always see each other as the enemy." She said reluctantly.  
"But he IS going. Its not like there's much we can do to stop it unless you stop her," Naruto replied solemnly. Hitonomi smiled. '_So he does realize it. But she can't stop me. He should know that._' She thought. Tsunade sighed.  
"And how the hell am I going to do that?" She mumbled, not really asking anyone. Hitonomi smiled and stood. She stretched and left, heading back to Hajimi.  
Hitonomi climbed into his bedroom window and smiled when she saw him asleep. Then she decided that something had to be done about his mother. Quietly, she crept downstairs and into the kitchen where Hajimi's mother was quietly doing dishes- trying not to let the sounding of the bells worry her. She'd ask somebody in the morning, she decided, but it wasn't quite enough to let her sleep.  
"Can't sleep? I get like that sometimes too. Especially on nights like this." Hitonomi said sweetly.  
"Get out of my home," Hajimi's mother responded coldly, cleaning and recleaning a cleaver that she had picked up. "You have no place here. My Haji's not going to grow up like you. He's not like you." She smiled.  
"But he's not like you either. Or his father. He's an outsider. And it's because of that, that he _is _like me." She said as she sat down at the table. "Will you relax? I only want to talk to you." She said.  
"Then talk," she said, setting the knife carefully aside and continuing her work.  
"When was the last time your husband came home and stayed longer than five minutes?" Hitonomi asked after a brief pause.  
"He was home all last week," she replied. "And he came back a few days ago. He's responding to the summons now." Hitonomi sighed. "If he was here all last week, how come we never crossed paths? I was here most of the time and never saw him. Are you sure your not..._seeing things_?" She said sweetly.  
"You weren't here when he left or when he got home. There's no reason why you should have met him." Hitonomi rolled her eyes.  
"I was here for 32 hours strait. I would have met him. But I didn't. So there's no possibility that he was actually here. Think carefully, _Hanabi_. Were you imagining things or was he here?" She said calmly.  
"He was here," said Hanabi, putting her hand on the knife again. Hitonomi sighed again. She slowly stood and began to walk over to Hanabi.  
"I want to help you Hanabi, but you have to be willing to listen. Hanabi, what color are Hajimi's eyes?" She said as she got closer.  
"They're blue,"Hanabi said calmly. Hitonomi nodded.  
"And how did Neji react when he saw those eyes when Hajimi was born?" She asked slowly.  
"It was too long ago," replied Hanabi coldly, every cell in her body saying that she wanted this conversation to end. "I don't remember."  
"Yes you do. No one would ever forget that. My father told me about the day I was born and what my mother said and did and everything. I know you remember. You just have to think. Please Hanabi. Look way back. What do you remember?" Hitonomi said gently. In the middle of her request, Hanabi threw the knife at her. Hitonomi caught the knife easily before it scratched her nose. "Does this mean you're starting to remember? Because if there truly was nothing to remember, you wouldn't be reacting like this. Will you listen to me?!" She exclaimed as she caught another knife. "Hanabi! Do you remember why they relieved you of your ninja duty?! I promise you it's directly related to what happened when Hajimi was born." She said quickly. Hanabi had stopped listening. This person was interrogating her in HER home!? And now she was through with it. After all, her father had always said that she had much more natural talent than her older sister. An open palm flew at the intruder. Hitonomi dodged and gripped her wrist. She looked Hanabi hard in the eyes. "Damn it, Hanabi! Listen to me! Neji fucking _left_ you..." She said sadly. Hanabi's hand went limp as the memories returned, her eyes staring into space. Hitonomi sighed as she guided Hanabi into a chair. "I didn't want to hurt you Hanabi. I was only trying to help. Hajimi is leaving with me and I don't know when, if ever, he's coming back. You wouldn't be able to handle that the way you were." She said quietly before walking out. A few seconds after she had gone out the door, Hanabi's hand gripped the arm of the chair, destroying it instantly with the force of her chakra. Then she went out the door to hunt down the man who had left her for pride.


	16. Chapter 16

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Naruto was just managing to fall asleep when a commotion outside his bedroom door woke him up. Seconds later, Hanabi- sweet, sensible Hanabi- threw open the door, pushing aside a guard and his personal assistant as she did so.  
"Where is he?" she demanded, looking Naruto in the eye. He sighed, having suspected that this day would come eventually. Wordlessly, he reaches into his nightstand, pulls out a single card, and hands it to her. She takes it hastily, crumpling it slightly, and nods her thanks before disappearing. At the end of it all, Naruto's guard and assistant were both still staring at him.  
"Don't worry," he said. "We've warned him plenty of times. He'll probably survive."

Neji wasn't home when Hanabi got there, so she waited. After half an hour, he arrived, so she jumped in front of him.  
"YOU!" she screamed, unable, when the time came, to come up with everything she needed to say. Neji was stunned.  
"Hana-" he began, but his words were cut off by Hanabi's hand that hit him across the face and knocked him to the pavement.  
"You asshole!" Hanabi continued, her rage slightly abated by the strike.  
"You fucking left us! You left your wife and you left your only son for PRIDE!" She puntuated this last word with a kick in his ribs, and because jyuuken was such an effective style, Neji coughed up blood because of it. But he also had the good sense to grab her leg, allowing him to pull her down to him, while two fingers went up for a killing blow. Seconds before he killed her though, a dozen hands stopped their movements.  
"Hyuuga Neji," said Naruto into his ear, "for the attempted murder of a valued citizen of Konohagakure, you are on leave from your post of Captain of the ANBU until further notice. Hyuuga Hanabi, you are to return home." This said, he released both of them and watched them part ways. Hitonomi sat there in the shadows watching everything with wide eyes and dropped jaw. She was now trying desperately not to laugh. That would give away her possition and there were ANBU everywhere! She silently applauded Hanabi before she went back to Hajimi's house. There, she then broke into full out applause when Hanabi walked in the door.  
"I was NOT expecting you to do THAT! That was amazing! I've been trying to do that to him for days but I kept failing to get through his thick skull!" She said excitedly.  
"I still have a little extra, Hito-chan." Hanabi said, flexing her hand. Hitonomi smiled and looked away, love in her eyes.  
"You're the first person since my parents to call me Hito-chan..." She said quietly.  
"And the first?" She asked. Hitonomi smiled.  
"My mother. She died when I was very little. Then my father would call me Hito-chan on occasion, but it was rare." She said quietly. She sat down in a chair, lost in memories. "Ya know, people think I'm the spitting image of my father, but they assume my mother looked different. The truth is, I'm the spitting image of my mom. They both looked alike. I have _her_ hair. _Her_ nose. _Her_ mouth. _Her _hands. Her..." she said quietly, trying to remember everything about her mother. "It gets hard remembering her. I was so little." She said to herself, forgetting that Hanabi was still in the room. Hanabi could hardly believe it. This girl was really still a girl, despite the responsibilities on her shoulders. Despite the fact that she really was ready for whatever came her way, she had memories too; moments of kindness. Thinking, Hanabi remembered what Hajimi had said. He was going to be leaving in 4 days. With his father, which she knew was impossible. She gently rested her hand on Hitonomi's shoulder.  
"I trust you to keep my son safe," she said. Hitonomi smiled and looked up at her.  
"And I will do everything in my power to do so. I care about my people. More than they're willing to admit. In fact, I don't think Hajimi or Mitsukai know how much I care for them." She said. She suddenly sat up strait and composed herself back to original pose of overconfident, that Hanabi now knew was really just a cover to hide the real girl inside. "Here come's Hajimi." Hitonomi said with a smirk. Hanabi tensed when she heard the footsteps on the stairs. '_Oh dear. How will he react?_' She thought desperately. Hajimi looked down the stairs in shock.  
"Hitonomi? Wh-what are you doing.... mom?" he stammered.  
"Good morning Haji," his mother said, beaming. "Hito-chan came by last night, and we had a... useful talk. Then a nice one. She's promised to take care of you while you're away."  
"What?" Hajimi asked, still confused.  
"Your mom's not crazy any more, Hajimi. She actually bitch-slapped your _dear old dad_." Hitonomi said cheerfully.  
"What?," repeated Hajimi. "Wait- what did you DO?"  
"We had a useful talk, Haji," his mother reminded him gently. "After which, I had a lot of pent up anger and dealt with it. Neji's suspended from the ANBU now. Now why don't you have some cereal? Breakfast is important." Hajimi nodded and sat down. Hitonomi smiled and nodded.  
"It was really funny to watch." She said giddily. In retaliation, Hajimi flicked a few flakes at her.  
"Now, Haji, don't be so mean to your guest," his mom reproached, but lightly. It had to come as a shock to him, not to have to lie to her anymore. It had been sweet of him at the time, of course, but now things were going to change. And then they were going to change some more, she reflected, looking at Hajimi and Hitonomi together.

"I won't thank you for interfering with my life," Hajimi said again, working on disabling a training post.  
"Your mother is still happy. She and I are friends even. Why can't you still be happy for her? Hell! She BITCH-SLAPPED your FATHER! That was awesome!" She exclaimed from her spot on the bench. She was laying on her back, wearing sunglasses. She glanced over and watched Hajimi work with the post. "Ya know, you aren't going to learn anything that way." She said.  
"I realize that she's happy. I'm glad." said Hajimi.  
"But something could have still gone wrong." Hitonomi sighed. "I was as gentle as I know how to be. Nothing would have gone wrong." She said, getting up. Hajimi pushed forward, disabling the puppet.  
"I guess I've never seen you be that careful." Hajimi said. Hitonomi shrugged.  
"You've never needed too. Now, let me teach you." She said stepping in front of the puppet. Hajimi took two steps back and fell into his familliar stance. Hitonomi smiled and took a purely defensive stance. "Show me what you know." She said, smirking. Hajimi nodded and rushed her. Hitonomi stepped back and dodged each blow quickly. "Good. Very well balanced. But you focus to much on what you see." She said as she suddenly spun and swept his feet out. She stood over him. "Be aware of everything you _feel_. Act as if you are _blind_." She said, choosing her words carefully. Hajimi thought this over for a moment before taking the obvious approach. He closed his eyes and attacked Hitonomi's calf muscles at the same time as he tried to get back on his feet. Hitonomi silently flipped over him and landed behind him. Hajimi heard her footsteps and turned around, his eyes still shut as though sleeping, and attacked. Hitonomi leaned to dodge,careful not to make a sound. "You can't trust your ears only. They can be decieved." she said, manipulating her voice to sound as if she was moving to the right as she leaned to the left.  
"So sight is unreliable, and sound is too? What can I rely on, smell? Taste?" he asked, frustrated.  
"Yes. Feel the earth. Smell the wind. Sense the living beings around you. Stop fighting for a minute and try it. Tell me what you feel." She said as she sat down and closed her eyes. Hajimi settled down and tried it. After a moment, he began to speak.  
"I feel..." She opened one eye and watched him.  
"Yes?" She said slowly.  
"Ridiculous." He concluded. She sighed.  
"I feel the ants gathering food 20 meters away. A squirrel fighting with chipmunk over a pile of nuts. A family of birds settling down for a nap. A group of children plaing on the playground. And 6 ANBU watching us in various possitions in the trees around us." She said calmly.  
"Showoff," Hajimi complained. She chuckled.  
"I am not. If I was a showoff I would have said that, from my position, ANBU number 1 is at 12:30. number 2 is at 3, number3 is at 3:05, number 4 is 5, number 5 is at 7, number 6 is at nine. Did you fools get all that?" She said sarcastically and loudly.  
"No, the ants were the showoff part," retorted Hajimi. She laughed.  
"Hey, Every living being has chakra! You just need to be aware of it." She said happily.  
"Great. So I should get a Byakugan," Hajimi said scathingly. She laughed an empty laugh.  
"I was learning this at age 7. I don't, nor will I ever, have the byakkugan. It's overrated." She said venomously.  
"So how the hell am I supposed to tell where chakras are? I can't see that way!" Hajimi yelled, blindly angry. She giggled.  
"Yes you can. The Byakugan is not the only way. You don't need ANY kekkei genkai to do anything they can do. All kekkei genkais do is make it easier to do it. Someone who has one is just spoiled. Those who can do it without are truly powerful. I can teach you If you're willing. It's really not that difficult." She said sweetly.  
"Really?" asked Hajimi, finally listening- like a dog pays attention to a person with a strip of bacon. She nodded.  
"The first lesson is seeing your own chakra. Your favorite color is blue, correct?" she said. Hajimi nodded, trying to understand what his favorite color had to do with anything. "Well, as you should know, chakra is the color blue. What you don't know is that you can break through that blue to see another color. It's commonly the person's favorite color. However, every person's true chakra is different. Mine, I know, is a swirl of green and blue. Yours is a blueish-reddish hue thing. The first color is our favorite. Green and Blue. The second is our current emotion. Blue and red. Truely talented people can see even farther to uncover an animal. Our soul. I have never accomplished this. The only person I knew who could was my mother and she's dead. I am accomplished enough to recognize different people's chakra for miles around. That goes for animals also. It's one of the things that make me a good kage. All I have to do is close my eyes and I know where every member of my village is at that exact moment." Hitonomi said, completely absorbed in the exercise.  
"So you can teach me how?" asked Hajimi, pacified. Hitonomi nodded.  
"The first thing to do is to sense the pressence of chakra. This is usually pretty easy for trained ninja. Can you do it?" She asked him. Hajimi closed his eyes and allowed his hands to fill with chakra, focusing on how he knew, and learning what the feeling was. Then he let the chakra fade, looking for other signs of chakra nearby. To his surprise, he could.  
"I think so. Yours feels dark... kind of." Hitonomi smiled and nodded.  
"That's my chakra." She muttered.  
"Now, you need to visualize it. The first thing you should see is blue. That's just the chakra. After that, all the easy stuff is over. Then you need to break it down to see my individual chakra. The green and whatever the hellelse I'm feeling at the time. Be warned; when seeing my chakra, you might see something...unexpected." She said warningly. Hajimi tried again, but shook his head.  
"There's no colors," he said, frustrated. She nodded.  
"Relax. You can feel it, but you can't force yourself to see it. The chakra is almost like an animal to anyone without a kekkei genkai. You have to coax it out. You can't force it. Try attracting it, if that makes any sense." She said gently.  
"I've been trained to work directly with chakra. You think I didn't try that? I can't feel it in colors. I feel... elements, I guess. Yours is mostly darkness. Although not even you seem particularly dark. Not from what I've seen, at least," Hajimi said. Hitonomi's eyes shot open in alarm.  
"What does the darkness feel like. Ignore my feeling of Acid, focus on the dark." She said nervously.  
"Just dark," Hajimi said, concentrating. "It's a little odd, though. It's like a whole other chakra. There's a few things like that, actually." Hitonomi tensed, before standing and walking away.  
"Hajimi, you're not ready to try to see my chakra. Practice with Mitsukai or your mother. You need experience seperating different people's chakra before you attempt mine. I'm sorry I didn't realize it before." She said as she got farther and farther away.  
"Why is yours different from theirs, Hitonomi? Not even my chakra is whole, but yours is almost definitively seperated." Hitonomi stopped walking and sighed.  
"What you were feeling wasn't my chakra. It was something overpowering it."  
"And what might that be?" Hajimi asked. Hitonomi half turned around and gave Hajimi a hard look.  
"That darkness that you felt? That was my father's chakra," she said as she turned and continued to walk away. Hajimi looked at her for a moment, trying to understand the situation, but gave up quickly and sat down to practice some more. One hour later, he thought he could feel the airy life that was the sparrow perched in the trees nearby.


	17. Chapter 17

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Kakashi and Anko sat side by side in a tree, watching Hitonomi teach Hajimi. Watching her like this, was like watching another person. As she walked away, the two of them both exchanged a glance and nodded before rushing to the Hokage. After a quick knock and hearing 'enter' they went in and tried to make certain that no one else was around.  
"Hey Naruto, you won't believe this." Kakashi said, still trying to believe what he saw himself.  
"What is it, Kakashi?" Naruto asked.  
"Hitonomi has better chakra control than Sakura did. To the point where she can actually see and pick out individual people's chakra in a croud of hundreds. Maybe even thousands. She's prpbably the best tracker nin in existence." Kakashi said.  
"She's teaching this skill to Hajimi. However, when he tried to see her chakra, she left. But we heard her say that Hajimi saw her father's chakra. She used Orochimaru's body transfur jutsu on him." Anko continued.  
"So that explains it..." murmered Naruto.  
"Oh yeah. That's also why we can't seem to find her unless she wants us to find her or if she just doesn't care." Kakashi said, leaning against the wall.  
"No, I was talking about her skill level. She singlehandedly killed Jiraiya. She's what, thirteen? There's little chance of her getting to that level through training alone," Naruto said.  
"It makes sense if Orohimaru is helping her." Kakashi nodded.  
"But with all due respect sir, she's 15." Anko said quickly. Naruto stared at her.  
"And this changes anything?" he asked. Anko looked at him with surprise.  
"Sir, if you recall, your abilities increased dramiticaly in the time between when you were 13 to when you were 15." Anko said simply. Kakashi smiled.  
"She's right and she's got a point Naruto."  
"I wasn't at kage level afterwards," Naruto pointed out. "Not even jounin level. And definitely not the level of a sannin."  
"Oh of course not. However, you wouldn't have killed your father either." Kakashi said sarcastically. Naruto ignored all but one interpretation of what Kakashi said.  
"But she didn't, did she? She didn't kill him, not really, and I'd bet my forehead protector that it was that serpent's clever idea." Anko nodded.  
"I'd bet anything as well. Most likely, she resents him for it." Anko said, speculating.  
"But there's not much that this helps us with," sighed Naruto. Kakashi suddenly stopped and froze.  
"Perhaps...There is. Naruto, summon Mitsukai."

Mitsukai walked in and gave the three and unbelieving look.  
"Yes. First you yell at me and now you want my help. This must be important for you to not be wringing out my neck right now." She said. Ah the resemblence between father and daughter when she chose to be sarcastic.  
"Mitsukai, How old was Hitonomi when she took over her father?" Kakashi asked. She shrugged.  
"The hell if I know."  
"Well what do you know about her childhood?" Kakashi asked.  
"Her father raised her and her best friend died when she was a kid." She said. He turned to Naruto and Anko.  
"Don't you get it?" he exclaimed.  
"Of course," said Naruto dryly. "But since you're so excited, why don't you explain it?"  
"Hitonomi was and probably still is a gentle person! And her father tried to change that, so she resents him. Hates him. _loathes him_. That's why she went after Jiraiya and that's why she's going after Tsunade. Orochimaru wanted them dead, so she wants him dead because she thinks that she can severe her ties to him if she finishes what he started. She wont have to deal with his ghosts he left her. But things, like her best friends death, made her compassionate. I have a theory, but to test it we need Tsunade to start a fight with Hitonomi in a place where kids go." He said quickly.  
"Right," said Naruto. "Let Tsunade know, and I want at least three squads of ANBU within five minutes of the place in case something goes wrong. But make sure that they're spread out. There's a chance that Hitonomi won't even start to fight if she can sense ANBU swarming around."  
"Oh yes she will." Mitsukai said.  
"Can you say that without any doubt, Mitsukai? Because if something goes wrong, the blame will lie on you," Naruto said.  
"Hitonomi will most likely take it as a challenge and as doubt of Tsunade's skills. She'll love it." Mitsukai said sweetly.  
"Then Tsunade is to travel with a guard," Naruto said with finality. "Get to it." The three nodded and left. Outside, Kakashi and Anko turned to Mitsukai with guilty expressions.  
"Um, Mitsukai, we're sorry we got angry at you. Turns out you were right." Anko said quietly.  
"Yeah. Thanks for having the guts to talk to Hitonomi." Kakashi said as his expression turned from guilt to pride. Mitsukai smiled.  
"I understand completely. Don't worry about it." She said. The two smiled and left. Mitsukai's smile slipped.  
"If only you wouldn't worry about me." She mumbled before leaving to find Hajimi.

Mitsukai ran to Hajimi as he stood up in the training grounds.  
"Hajimi!" She called. Hajimi looked up, his concentration broken.  
"Mitsukai?" he asked. "What's up?" Mitsukai stopped in front of Hajimi and smiled.  
"Well, not that you care most likely, but the jounin have wised up and don't hate me anymore!" She said happily. Hajimi returned her smile.  
"For now, at least, I do care, Mitsukai. I'm glad for you. I really am. And I don't think we're going to be quite as far from Konoha as we first thought. Did you hear about what happened last night?" Mitsukai shook her head.  
"I know Neji is suspended from the ANBU, but I haven't heard why or how." She said. She gave Hajimi a questioning look. "You wouldn't happen to have the dirt, would you Haji-chan?"She said playfully.  
"If it weren't for the Hokage, he would have killed my mom," Hajimi said gravely before his grin returned. "He was trying to get revenge for my mom leveling him." Mitsukai's jaw dropped.  
"Are you SERIOUS?! Go Hanabi! Why'd she do that?" Mitsukai exclaimed.  
"Hitonomi jogged her memory a bit." Hajimi explained. "Apparantly, she was pretty pissed once she remembered." Mitsukai smiled and laughed.  
"Apparantly! Oh and speaking of Hitonomi, my dad came up with a plan that he thinks will reveal Hitonomi's weakness." Mitsukai said exciedly.  
"Really?" asked Hajimi, halfway between curiosity and worry. Mitsukai nodded.  
"They're going to try and get her to fight Tsunade fairly soon. In a place where children can show up. I don't quite understand it...but I don't really want to. Hajimi, do you worry about Hitonomi as well?" She asked quietly.  
"Well, she is my kage," said Hajimi carefully. Mitsukai nodded.  
"Same, but that isn't why I worry. I don't quite get it." Mitsukai said slowly as she layed in the grass. She sighed. "I've heard all the stories about Orochimaru and I hear everyone comparing her to him. I think they're wrong. I think she takes after her mother mostly." Mitsukai said slowly.  
"Whoever that poor woman happened to be," Hajimi murmered.  
"What? Is it impossible in your eyes to melt someone's heart?" She asked.  
"She died, Mitsukai. Hitonomi's mother died, or else she wouldn't be here. And I'm willing to bet that it wasn't some tragic accident that made it happen, either. Orochimaru was known for bending others to his will and then betraying them." Mitsukai sighed.  
"Perhaps you're right." She looked toward the street and gasped. She quickly sat up with a serious face.  
"Looks like Hitonomi is in for a fight." Hajimi looked over. Tsunade and an ANBU guard were walking. ANBU were following and protecting on the rooftops. Mitsukai smiled.  
"It wont work."


	18. Chapter 18

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hitonomi was sitting on a bench, lounging in the sun. Her outfit for the day was a deep purple kimono on top of her catsuit and sunglasses. The kimono had bell sleeves and only went down to mid-shin. Her hair up in a high ponytail, kept by a matching purple ribbon. The only visible weapon on her person was kusanagi, and that would not be an effective weapon against one of the original legendary sannin. But with Hitonomi, who knew what else could be up her sleve...  
"Hitonomi!" An angry call echoed through the air. Hitonomi lowered her sunglasses and turned her head away from the sun, to meet the angry eyes of Tsunade and an ANBU. Hitonomi blinked.  
"What?" She muttered. She could see Tsunade getting angrier by the second. Hitonomi smiled. "Oh, you want to fight now instead of later." She said. She smiled as she pushed the sunglasses back up and looked back to the sky. "That certainly explains the sudden pressence of all these ANBU." She mumbled. It was as if Hitonomi could care less about Tsunade's pressence or the pressence of all the ANBU. It was like she was a different person. Of course, anyone who knew Hitonomi knew better. And those two people were currently running to the scene. Mitsukai and Hajimi slid to a stop on the sidelines and watched as Hitonomi slowly stretched and yawned. "Tsunade, can't this wait until later. I don't feel like fighting today. It's so nice and sunny out. I don't want to ruin this." She said lazily. Tsunade was confused. Mitsukai smiled as she and Hajimi sat down to watch this. The ANBU looked ready to pounce on Hitonomi, should she try to flee or suddenly attack Tsunade without warning.  
"What the hell do you mean?! First you kill Jiraiya and now you act like nothing's happened at all!" Tsunade exclaimed. Hitonomi smiled and yawned again.  
"Last chance Tsunade. I won't ask again. Go away. I don't want to fight you right now." Hitonomi said. Tsunade glared at the girl and was very close to losing her temper.  
"Hitonomi.." she growled. Hitonomi stood and sighed.  
"Fine. If you insist. Hajimi!" She called as she took of her sunglasses. She tossed them to the boy, which he easily caught. "Hold onto those for me. They're my favorite pair." she said, as if this would just be a sparring match. Every eye glanced down at Hajimi for a second to catch the way he responded to the teen.  
"You've got poor taste," Hajimi said back, pocketing the sunglasses. "But I'll keep ahold of them." Mitsukai chuckled and the majority of the ANBU grinned. The rest just rolled their eyes and scowled before returning to the important matter at hand. Hitonomi sighed and walked forward a few steps.  
"Fine. Let's get this over with. They're going to need to plan your funeral sooner or later." She mumbled. She held out her arm and slowly, Natalia slithered out of Hitonomi's Kimono sleeve and onto the outstretched arm of her mistress. Hitonomi opened her eyes and glared at Tsunade. "Die." She whispered. Natalia shot from Hitonomi's arm and lunged for Tsunade's throat. Tsunade dodged to the right while the ANBU jumped onto the roof. Hitonomi watched as Tsunade continued to expertly dodge every attack, trick, and decoy move Natalia tried to hit her with. Hitonomi smiled as she walked forward. "I'm so happy to see you remember what it's like to fight with my father." Hitonomi said as Natalia stopped attacking and wrapped herself around Hitonomi's arm once again. Hitonomi and Tsunade glared at each other, just five feet apart. "But I am not like my father." She said as she went for a blow to the stomach. Tsunade, not having seen that move comming, went to dodge too late. Hitonomi's blow still hit close enough to the target and with enough force to send Tsunade flying. Of course, It wasn't in the direction Hitonomi wanted, but she was satisfied anyway. She chuckled as she stood back up properly from that attack and started walking towards Tsunade. Tsunade, was doubled over in pain as she tried to stand and heal herself at the same time. She had almost hit the core of the torso, that would have ended the battle in hitonomi's favor. She wouldn't have died, but she would be unable to move. Tsunade managed to stand up straight and watch as Hitonomi got closer with each step. Tsunade had atleast 10 kunai hidden on her that she could use, but she had to be quick. It would be almost impossible to get one in time to hit her with it if Hitonomi saw them. Hitonomi smirked. Tsunade tensed. Hitonomi was within striking range. Quickly, Tsunade spun around, grabbing a kunai from her sleeve while her back was turned, and went for a kill at Hitonomi's throat. Hitonomi dodged by turned and leaning back. Tsunade's attack went over her, but she was ready for that. She grabbed another kunai and stabbed the girl in the side. Hitonomi cried out in pain and anger as she flipped away from Tsunade. She pulled the kunai out as Natalia slithered down and wrapped herself around Hitonomi's waist. Hitonomi skillfully tossed and spun the newly aquired kunai in her hand. Mitsukai tensed. She could sense several children playing not to far from here. Kakashi came and sat down beside her.  
"Enjoying the show?" he said quietly.  
"Are you _mad_?" Mitsukai said, furious with her father.  
"I don't believe I am. Why?" He said, as layed back as ever.  
"Engaging Hitonomi in combat so close to children?! Father, I can't believe you'd do something like this!" Mitsukai whispered, trying to keep her voice in check.  
"It's neccesary. I believe the children will be Hitonomi's downfall."  
"Or our own." Mitsukai said venomously. Kakashi sighed. Hitonomi smirked.  
"I would applaud you, but that would involve loosing this kunai. You are the first ninja in a long time to draw my blood. You _will_ be the last." She said happily. Hitonomi thrust both arms outward and snapped her fingers. Suddenly eight kunai shot out of Hitonomi's sleeves, each on a chakra string, and flew towards Tsunade. Tsunade had to move constantly to avoid all 8, before Hitonomi suddenly froze for a few seconds. Quickly she brought the kunai back to her and jumped in the air. She glanced over and locked eyes with Kakashi. She glared at him, sending him a simple message with her looks; '_You will pay for this_'. She vanished before she could reach the ground. A moment later, the twins,Tenpi andTsuki, walked around the corner and stopped at the sight of the ninja.  
"We better go."Tenpi laughed.  
"Hehe! yeah. It looks like someone's gonna get hurt."Tenpi sighed as she pulled her sister with her.  
"Nooo...It looks like someone's about to be killed." She said, annoyed. Mitsukai sighed and then rounded on her father.  
"WHY WOULD YOU RISK THAT?! **WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!**" Mitsukai yelled. Kakashi jumped back at his daughter's sudden temper and put his hands up in defense.  
"I was right!" He yelled.  
"BUT IF YOU HAD BEEN WRONG, THOSE GIRLS COULD HAVE ENDED **DEAD! ARE YOU **_**TRYING **_**TO KILL OUR PEOPLE?!**" Mitsukai yelled. Tsunade put her hand on Mitsukai's shoulder.  
"I agree with you Mitsukai. That was unbelievably stupid. But now is not the time or the place to start yelling at your father. We'll go back to the Hokage's office." she said calmly, despite the pain in her waist. Tsunade then turned to Hajimi. "Hajimi, may I have those sunglasses please?" She asked calmly.  
"I said already that they're overrated, didn't I?" Hajimi said, lying down on the grass as if bored. "Besides, they're Hitonomi's, and she asked me to hold onto them for her." Tsunade groaned.  
"Hajimi, please." She said sternly. Worded like a request, her voice turned it into a demand.  
"I'll put some thought into it," replied Hajimi, his voice lethargic with feigned exhaustion. "I'll let you know in a week or so." Mitsukai grinned. Tsunade scowled.  
"You'll be gone in 4 days!" She said through gritted teeth.  
"So you'll probably have to buy your own. It's not my problem," Hajimi said. Tsunade grinded her teeth together and took a step towards the boy, only to be stopped by her ANBU guard's hand on her shoulder. Tsunade glanced back and sighed. "We don't have time for this..." she mumbled. The ANBU nodded. Mitsukai rolled her eyes. "Am I to understand the two of you are actually going to return them to her?" She said, defeated. Mitsukai smiled.  
"Yup!" she said cheerfully.  
"They're just sunglasses," Hajimi said, his voice going from boredom to annoyance. He stood up and began to walk away. Tsunade sighed and turned to Mitsukai.  
"Mitsukai, if you're going to Hitonomi, relay a message for me." Mitsukai nodded. "If she doesn't finish what I started, then I will," Tsunade said as she turned and walked away with her ANBU guard. Mitsukai sighed and started walking after Hajimi while her father and the rest of the ANBU followed Tsunade.

Hitonomi briskly walked into Hajimi's house and collapsed in front of the couch. She kneeled and layed her head in her arms on the couch cushion. She took deep breathes trying to control her alarm and get her emotions back into check. She was failing. Hanabi turned into the room and left again, putting some water in the kettle to boil. Then she walked back into the living room.  
"Something wrong?" she asked, careful to keep her voice just loud enough to be heard, in case Hitonomi startled. As quick as Hitonomi could, she wiped her eyes and glanced at Hanabi. A sad smile was on her face.  
"I'm fine Hanabi. Thak you." She mumbled.  
"Even if I wasn't a mother- even if I was blind and deaf- I'd know that that was a lie, Hito-chan. As it is, I am a mother, and I can't stand seeing a child in distress, kage or not." Hitonomi smiled and closed her eyes.  
"I was tricked. It was a very dirty trick. I would never use that kind of tactics and I can't believe Konoha would. My father was right about this town. I should have just done my job and left. True I sneak and I get around things, but I don't trick people. I would never do such a thing..." She said as a few tears managed to get past her and down her face.  
"Some people are cruel, Hito-chan," Hanabi said, settling down next to Hitonomi. "Others can do cruel things when trying to do right. Sometimes people do things that seem cruel, or are made to do cruel things by others. What segment do you honestly think that the village is in?" she asked.  
"They're trying to be right....but there is no way in anyone's right mind that risking the life of a child is ever right!" Hitonomi said as she began to cry again. Hanabi reached over her shoulder, offering a place for Hitonomi to escape to. Hitonomi leaned over and slumped agaist Hanabi, her head resting on her shoulder. At that moment, the door opened and Hajimi and Mitsukai walked in. Before they could speak, though, Hanabi waved them off. Hajimi nodded, shocked by the image of Hitonomi crying, and silently moved up the stairs to his room, gesturing for Mitsukai to follow. Misukai stared in shock and started to take a step forward. Just then, a whistle announced the boiling kettle. Hanabi managed to convey that she wanted Mitsukai to take care of it while murmering,  
"I started some tea, Hito-chan. How does that sound?" Hitonomi took a deep breath, and then nodded as she smiled. Hanabi helped Hitonomi to her feet and to the table as Mitsukai handed Hitonomi a cup of tea, and then proceeded to give a cup to Hanabi and Hajimi, who had rejoined them. Hitonomi smiled at her as she slumped in her chair taking small sips.  
"Um... Hitonomi-sama, I know this is a really bad time, but I have a message from Tsunade..." Mitsukai said quietly. Hitonomi put her cup down and nodded slowly. "She says that if you won't finish what she started, she will." She said nervously. Hitonomi's grip tightened as her gaze turned angry and hard.  
"Don't worry. I _**will**_ finish it, if it's the last thing I do. This village will pay for their little stunt." She said murderously.  
"Either that, or just the top dogs that decided on that plan," said Hajimi out loud. Some mercy was expected of him, after all, even though all that his mind was really saying was: "Good."  
"Speaking of which, Mitsukai, would you happen to know who's idea this whole thing was?" Hitonomi said as she calmed down and resumed to drink her tea. She nodded.  
"My father." she mumbled, aggitated. Hitonomi smiled.  
"This is what I want you to do..."

* * *

The ANBU and few jounin that were present at the battle were meeting in the Hokage's office. Tsunade had finished relaying the information and Naruto was no happier than Mitsukai had been.  
"You would dare...to put _**our students**_...in range of **Hitonomi?!**"Naruto had whispered, while shaking with anger, argueing had started almost the instant that sentence had gotten out. Mitsukai walked up the steps and calmly opened the door. The room had quieted and now watched her with interest as she walked up to her father, smiling. Suddenly, she slapped him! Hard enough that he almost fell, if her wasn't an ex-ANBU. She smiled again as he looked at his daughter, shocked.  
"That was from Hitonomi. She wants you to be aware that if you get in her way again, you will go on her list. And if you EVER risk the life of a child again, she will eliminate you _that instant._ She may not have any power here, but that's not going to stop her from preventing the abuse of a child in any way, shape, or form. Understood?" She said with that smile on her face. Not waiting for an answer, she turned to Tsunade. "Hitonomi wants you to know that you made the first move. Now it's her turn. I promise you won't have to wait long." she said. Then almost instantly, she had turned and walked out the door.  
"I suppose that you're proud of your-" Naruto started, but then stopped, considering something, and a shadow clone brought Hajimi in through the window, gripping his shirt. "You should get that enclove filled in. I could've napped in there," Hajimi said, jabbing the shadow clone to make it disappear. A dozen pairs of eyes watched him, and he watched back. "I don't have much to say that Mitsukai didn't. I'm just here to listen to what the great shinobi of Konoha come up with." With that, he started to walk towards the corner when he was stopped by a quiet voice.  
"You can sit by me, Hajimi-chan, if you want." Hajimi's face lit up in a genuine smile immediately.  
"Alright, Hinata-obasama." Everybody seemed surprised by Hinata's presence, but struggled to hide it. Naruto managed to get his tongue on track first.  
"Hinata, it's good to see you," he said, and was the only one that didn't notice the way that Hinata's cheeks colored when he said it. "Do you have anything to add?" Hinata jerked her head from side-to-side, nervously.  
"No, I'm just here to watch, like Hajimi-chan," she said.  
"Right," Naruto said. "Tsunade?" Tsunade just sat there, blinking. She was stunned by what had just happened.  
"Did we hear her right?" she said quietly. Hajimi nodded.  
"Every word that Mitsukai said was true. Hitonomi's... upset. Upset that Konoha would pull a trick like the one that you did earlier. She may be her father's daughter, but that doesn't mean she's him. She has a sense of justice, and she won't let you get off after putting the lives of children at risk. That goes for you too, by my guess, Kakashi-san." Kakashi bowed his head, guilt starting to build up. Tsunade looked annoyed.  
"Kiba, what did you call her when you met her?" She asked.  
"A bipolar killer." He said quickly. Tsunade shook her head.  
"Not bipolar. A form of schizophrenia." She said, more to herself than the others.  
"It'd be nice if people were to explain these grand realizations concerning the safety of the village without having to be asked," Naruto said pointedly. Tsunade shook her head, smiling.  
"It makes sense now. Why she killed Jiraiya and why she wants to kill me. Her father was older and much more experienced than she was with the body-transfer jutsu. When he used it, he was able to silence every person he stole. Like they were locked in a room and he threw awaythe key. When she used it, she also found the key. So the voices weren't silent anymore. She's going about finishing what they started so they will finally be quiet. Orochimaru wanted his fellow sannin dead and here she is doing just that. She never targetted anyone else, did she? Only us. It was probably luck, good or bad is a matter of opinion,that she ever met Hajimi or Mitsukai." Tsunade said slowly.  
"She killed Uchiha Itachi when she was 14." Hajimi offered as the memory of Hitonomi mentioning that flew through his mind. Tsunade smiled again and nodded.  
"Uchiha Sasuke's greatest want." She said.  
"I doubt it'll be that easy," Naruto said softly. "Orochimaru wanted ultimate power. Apparantly, he left the Akatsuki on his own, but he would have been kicked out for trying the body transfer jutsu on Itachi. Now he's tormenting his daughter in that attempt for power." Silently, Hajimi's hand tightened into a fist until his nails were digging into him. "Is it possible to get him out of her or seal him?" he heard himself ask. Naruto turned to Kakashi, who was known to be an expert on seals. Kakashi shook his head.  
"A seal will only work on something that was forced upon someone. Hitonomi willingly used the jutsu. The only way to end it, is if she silences every voice. True, he was power hungry, however she went after Jiraiya and Tsunade. The trick about our greatest desires is that sometimes we don't know we want them. Orochimaru may not have known that he wanted them dead. Now, seperating the two of them _may _be possible. It has never been attempted before, but if she's willing to try then, in theory,it could be done." Kakashi said. Hajimi nodded, thinking about the training that Hitonomi had given him.  
"So you're saying that all we can do to get rid of Orochimaru is to let Grenny DIE?" Naruto asked, hoping that somebody would correct him.  
"I... I might be able to get him out, Hokage-sama," said Hajimi tentatively.  
"I need some time, though." Naruto turned to him.  
"Are you serious?" he asked. Hajimi shrugged. He had no idea how to work somebody else's chakra, really, especially not Orochimaru's.  
"I'll need to talk with Hitonomi, but maybe. In any case, Tsunade will probably die simply for the children trick." Kakashi shook his head.  
"I doubt that. Based on the look I got from Hitonomi as she left, she knew it was my fault. And based on what Mitsukai said, she's only going to pay me back for that if we try another stupid trick like that." He said.  
"So basically, our options are A, Let Hitonomi and Tsunade fight and hope for the best, B, try and get her to cooperate with us, or C, kill her. I don't like A and B and C is impossible." Anko said sarcastically.  
"_I_ will try B," Hajimi said. "I'll let you know how it works out."  
"Alright. Kakashi, write a will. Tsunade, do your best to stay alive. Hajimi, do your best with Hitonomi. Everybody's dismissed," Naruto said, rubbing his temples. Hajimi left almost before he finished, impatient to think the idea he proposed all of the way through. Mitsukai was leaning on the wall outside the door to greet him.  
"And how are you going to propose this to Hitonomi?" She said as they quickly distanced themselves from the tower.  
"I'll use the ultimate plan that has been used for generations," Hajimi said, sounding more confident than he felt. "I'll make it up when I get to it."


	19. Chapter 19

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Hajimi went back to the training ground, trying to focus. He shouldn't have said that he might be able to seperate Orochimaru from Hitonomi. The absolute, inevitable basis of the technique would have to be the technique that he was taught by Hitonomi just today. But there was a problem, because there was only so far that the technique could go. He could see Hitonomi's core chakra, _maybe_ figure out where Hitonomi ends and Orochimaru begins, and then... what? Pull him out? What would happen to it? Maybe it would return to Hitonomi right away. Or take Hajimi as its new host. Or Mitsukai. Or his mom. Seals weren't something that he had much experience with, but he could guess that using one- on something, he didn't know what, something secret and durable- was the only way to free Hitonomi for good.  
"So Hajimi, care to share the basis of your plan-in-process?" Mitsukai asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.  
"Something that may help or kill anyone in the vicinity," said Hajimi carefully. "I don't know. I can't keep it straight in my head for long enough to judge what might happen." Mitsukai nodded.  
"I see. Do you know how to even tell the difference between Hitonomi-sama and Orochimaru?" She asked him.  
"Yes. But some things run over! If it's the brightest part of him and the darkest part of her, how can I know for sure which is which? I know how to tell them apart... until I reach the border between them," Hajimi said. Then he shook his head. "I suppose that doesn't make much sense, does it?" he asked, having just remembered that, as far as he knew, Mitsukai hadn't been given the chakra sense training. Mitsukai stopped walking and stared at Hajimi.  
"Is she teaching you to see true chakra?" she said slowly. Hajimi could sense some apprehension in her words, but couldn't quite say how. For a response, he just nodded. "Hajimi be extremely careful with this. there are only a handful of ninja in the WORLD that can see true chakra. How long have you been at this?" She said quickly.  
"Yesterday." Hajimi said. Mitsukai whined, too worried to express in words.  
"How are you going to be able to pick out the two, if you just started yesterday?" She said as she started to walk again.  
"They feel different," Hajimi said, feeling vaguely superior. "Could you tell the difference between a dirt clod and a rock?" Mitsukai sighed.  
"Hajimi, it's not like that. The reason true chakra is so difficult to master is because it's a window into the other person's _soul_. It's dangerous. And you're still so new at it!"  
"A window isn't dangerous unless you try to push your hands through and get cut by the glass," Hajimi countered, although that was basically what he was going to do. He hoped that the analogy wouldn't go that far. Mitsukai sighed.  
"Well at least I can trust that Hitonomi will understand the true dangers. Why don't you go talk to her. She probably will be able to explain why you _can't_ do this better than I." She said as she started to walk away. Hajimi, frustrated, ran back to his house. Opening his front door, he saw Hitonomi talking with his mother.  
"Hitonomi," he said, "I think we should talk." She smiled and walked over to Hajimi and then to the living room. "How risky is the chakra viewing technique?" Hajimi asked immediately. She sighed.  
"You've been talking to the leaf ninja, haven't you?" She said softly. Hajimi nodded. She smiled. "Hajimi, it's only dangerous if you try to look into my chakra. Anyone else is safe. It's dangerous for me because of the body transfer jutsu. I haven't finished eliminating all the stray chakras that have developed due to it. Those that can't do it also think it's dangerous to view someone's soul. That is true, but it's not dangerous for the person you're seeing. The soul of a human is _the_ most powerful part of that person. _An infant_ could defeat your hokage if he were to fight the infants soul instead of the baby." She said, trying to explain it as easily as possible.  
"Oh," said Hajimi, still confused. "I saw your chakra, though. If I close my eyes and set my mind just right, I can see it now." He demonstrated, and then opened his eyes. "Or... I could. I'm getting better. I could feel my mom. Like water with lilypads growing in it." Hitonomi smiled.  
"You are getting better. But your just learning how to see one thing at a time. It will take months for you to be able to sense small groups and years to be able to truely _feel_ the earth around you. Then you have to learn how to _use_ it!" She said gently. Then she smiled playfully. "Now what is this about? Truely?" She said, knowingly.  
"The people of Konoha would rather Tsunade not die. If it were possible to seal your father in some way." Hitonomi's smile slipped as she shook her head.  
"Believe me, I've tried. It's not possible. I would if i could, but the only way for the rest of his chakra to die is for Tsunade to die." She said. Hajimi nodded, his expression downfallen. Hitonomi smiled and hugged Hajimi. "Thanks for being willing to try, Hajimi-chan." She said. She then stood up and went back to help Hanabi in the kitchen. Hajimi pulled himself together after a moment, going up to his room to train some more. Fifteen minutes into trying to sense every living thing in a ten meter radius- composed of a lonely spider under his bed and a group of roaches that he made a note to remember to kill later- he stopped and thought. Since Hitonomi's arrival, he had changed from being the most coarse bastard on the planet to someone that would willingly risk his life for the sake of people that he hardly knew. His mother had gone from... well, crazy to sane, quite honestly. And Hitonomi had changed from being annoying to being someone that Hajimi honestly considered to be a friend, although he wasn't sure if that was a change in Hajimi or a change in his perception of her. Abrubtly, he stopped his thoughts and realized that nothing would come of them. He got up, killed the roaches, and tried to increase the radius to fifteen meters. Downstairs, Hitonomi glanced up at Hajimi's room, smiling. She chuckled and then excused herself to go upstairs. She opened the door and leaned on the door frame, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence. Hajimi, however, was oblvious to her, and it took five minutes of gentle pushing for him to make it to fifteen meters. When he finished, he opened his eyes to find Hitonomi standing there.  
"Hi," he said, before thinking that it might be a little underdone. "I'm sorry, how long were you waiting?" She chuckled.  
"First off, before you start expanding your reach, you should master how to sense others without being sensed. It'll be too hard to master if you wait. Second, don't try to expand your range until you can sense everything in it. I am well within your original 10 meter radius. Third, about 7 minutes." She said as she smiled.  
"Third, sorry I was concentrating. Second, you were hiding in some way that I don't know about. First, like I said, I don't know how you hide, so I don't know how to hide myself. I'd be up for another lesson, if you'd like to drag me away from that ignorance," Hajimi said, annoyance returning to his voice. Hitonomi smiled, ignoring his annoyance.  
"Actually, I wasn't hiding my chakra that time. That was test to see if you were actually ready to be expanding your range. You failed. And yes I will teach you how to hide your chakra, when you're ready. You are not ready. Just be patient and try again." She said, some of her arrogance returning.  
"Well in that case..." Hajimi concentrated, and then decided against it, simply sending a wave out instead of a standing field. "There's the spider under my bed, my mom is in the kitchen, there's three birds on the side of the roof to my left, a squirrel about halfway up the tree behind me, more ants than I care to count, you right in front of me, and I used up way more energy than I should have with that," he said, letting the drain show in slightly labored breathing when he was finishing. Hitonomi smiled.  
"You're right. Now can you do that without getting tired?" She asked, already knowing the answer. Hajimi just glared at her. Hitonomi chuckled. "Well, good night." she said as she left, shutting the door behind her. Hajimi glared at where she had been and then sighed in defeat. He would never admit she was right. Atleast, not while she was alive.

* * *

Hitonomi watched as the sun went down. As soon as she saw the moon rising, she stripped down to her catsuit. Quickly, she pulled on a black kimono and began hiding weapons in it. Then she strapped on her belt with kusanagi on it. She continued hiding weapons on her person, ignoring the frustrated presence behind her.  
"Hito-chan, stop this. Tsunade is important to this village. She's the best medic nin we have," Hanabi said, trying to appeal to Hitonomi's sense of guilt. Hitonomi sighed.  
"I know, but she's old and her skills are failing fast as it is. You have medic nins that, in a year or two, will be better than her. She's not needed, if she was i would wait. But the bottom line is, she's currently disposable and I'll never have peace until she is disposed." Hitonomi said coldly.  
"Hitonomi, sit _down_," Hanabi said, forcing herself to be stern with the child prodigy. Hitonomi sat down next to Hanabi and looked at her, annoyed.  
"Yes Hanabi? I really do need to get going. She started this fight after all. _She _challenged _me._" She said arrogantly.  
"Don't talk to me like that. If you hadn't gone making trouble in the first place, she would never have bothered you, that much is perfectly clear even to someone as out of touch as I've been," she said firmly, and then softened. "I've heard something of why you're doing this. But you have to decide, really and truely, whether or not all of these deaths are worth it. It's your choice Hito-chan. If you really feel that killing Tsunade-sama is the best thing to do, then I won't stop you." Hitonomi looked away, an expression of both sadness and guilt on her face.  
"I know that, Hanabi, but... if I don't kill her, then more people will have to die to get rid of them. It's a choice between one death and the deaths of many. I would prefer the one death," she said softly. Hanabi laid her hand on Hitonomi's shoulder.  
"Then at least tell her why she's dying. She's owed that much, at least. Tell her about all the deaths that her death is helping to prevent." Hitonomi sighed and nodded.  
"I will try. I promise you that much. I can't promise that she'll listen." Hitonomi muttered as she stood and started walking towards the door.  
"Be careful," Hanabi said softly. Hitonomi smiled at Hanabi as she was joined by Natalia, and then quickly left into the dead of night...

Tsunade was in her home drinking a cup of tea as Hitonomi watched her. Hitonomi was no longer the sweet, caring girl she had let people see. She had reverted back to the cold-hearted demon she was when she killed outside the village. She was once again an assassin. She watched as Tsunade sat down on her couch, clearly exhausted. Hitonomi smiled as she raised her arm parallel to the ground. Natalia followed the silent command and left her mistress to get into the home of the old Slug Sannin. Hitonomi watched out of the corner of her eye, while still keeping her focus on Tsunade, as Natalia made her way to a window that was open just enough to slip in. Hitonomi smirked. Her smirked grew into a malicious grin as she watched Natalia rise up behind Tsunade. Natalia went into the strike and... poof? Hitonomi gasped as a kunai was placed against her throat.  
"Did you honestly think I would let my guard down, even for a second, after your return message?" Tsunade whispered from behind Hitonomi. Hitonomi smirked and started to laugh. Tsunade tensed, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, Tsunade was thrown from the tree as Hitonomi expertly spun around and the base of her neck. Hitonomi stood and walked along the branch to look down on Tsunade. Tsunade stood and glared at Hitonomi, who smirked in return. There was a hiss and Tsunade glanced back to her house. Natalia was up and hissing, only feet away from Tsunade. Then, Hitonomi did something unexpected. She looked around, searching for other nin, and sighed. She then jumped down and Natalia relaxed and returned to Hitonomi.  
"Tsunade, we need to talk." She said sadly. Tsunade looked at Hitonomi with suspicion as everything about the young girl seemed to relax. She took a deep breath before looking at Tsunade with an agitated look. "I am asking you to cooperate with me." She said quietly. Tsunade looked at her with shock. Then she looked her over and analyzed her behavior. She looked stressed as she said it. She was tense, and her breathing pattern seemed forced. Tsunade looked the Hitonomi in the eyes and was amazed by what she saw. Somehow, this young ninja had gone from a trained assassin to a distressed child. Tsunade couldn't help but gasp and lean back. Hitonomi closed her eyes and looked away. "I need you to understand, I have two options to choose from. Killing you is the better of the two options." Hitonomi said coldly. She refused to open her eyes. Tsunade saw this and knew she was trying to be emotionless, but was close to failing. Tsunade stared at the girl, confused and concerned.  
"What are your options?" She asked gently. Hitonomi took a deep breath before opening her eyes. "The death of one or the deaths of many." She whispered. Realization hit Tsunade as she finally noticed how everyone's only concern was eliminating Hitonomi. No one except Mitsukai and Hajimi ever cared about why she did things.  
"What happened to you when Orochimaru taught you the body transfer jutsu?" Tsunade asked. Hitonomi shook her head.  
"I don't have time to go into that story. I can only keep control like this for so long. I've got maybe two minutes before I go back to killing you. I only ask that you'll let me." She said quickly. Tsunade gasped as Hitonomi said this. '_What do I do? The noble thing would be to die and stop her from harming anyone else and the logical thing to do would be to fight her and subdue her until ANBU can arrive._' Tsunade thought franticly. She then tensed. '_But am I still capable of holding my own against someone of her strength?_' she thought. Hitonomi suddenly appeared as if someone had royally pissed her off. Natalia reared up, ready to attack again. Tsunade realized that she wasn't able to suppress the essence of her father anymore and quickly jumped back. Hitonomi rushed forward and unsheathed kusanagi. Tsunade could do nothing but dodge. '_Damn! She's even faster now. The ANBU won't get her in time. I only have one option..._' She thought. She reached the wall to her house and stopped. An instant later, the sword was going through her torso right at the bottom of her ribs. She smiled at Hitonomi. Hitonomi was glaring at her as she hesitated about pulling the sword out. Tsunade smiled again at the child as she watched her mind working. After a few moments Tsunade could see the child in her again as she pulled the sword out. Tsunade collapsed and Hitonomi slowly backed away. Natalia returned to her mistress's shoulders as she prepared to leave. Hitonomi looked at Tsunade sadly. "Thank you Tsunade-san, and I'm sorry." She said. Then, in an instant, she vanished into thin air. Tsunade smiled as the ANBU team finally arrived.  
"Tsunade-shishou!" One exclaimed.  
"Ino" she whispered, and then started coughing. She could feel the effects the sword was having. "Ino... Hurry. My chakra... can't heal this... It's spent." She said, coughing whenever she paused. Ino quickly went to work to save the last sannin's life.

* * *

Hitonomi jumped into Mitsukai's window.  
"Mitsukai, wake up!" She whispered. Mitsukai groaned. Hitonomi glared at her and literally kicked her out of the bed! Mitsukai sat up, glarring at Hitonomi.  
"What the fuck?!" She whispered as she tried not to yell. Hitonomi sighed.  
"We have to leave a day ahead of schedule. Let's go." she whispered. Mitsukai went from angry, to shocked, to almost in tears. She shook as she stood and changed into travelling-appropriate clothing. Then she grabbed a scroll with a kunai tied to it and quietly walked out of the room. Hitonomi followed purely out of curiousity. Mitsukai walked to her fathers room and left the scroll on his endtable, next to his books. Quickly the girls left and returned to Mitsukai's room. Mitsukai grabbed a bag she had packed and the two of them left to get Hajimi.  
Hitonomi walked into the house and dashed upstairs. Upon entering, she quickly went about waking him up.  
"Hajimi-chan! Wake up!" She whispered. Mitsukai leaned against the door. Hajimi's eyes opened halfway, trying to get ahold of his environment.  
"Huh?" he grunted.  
"Hajimi, we have to go. Now." Hitonomi said quickly. Hajimi blinked his eyes awake, and grabbed his sign, placing it outside the door backwards. He then grabbed his weapons pouch and put it on.  
"Ok," he said. Hitonomi smiled sadly.  
"Do you want to say goodbye to your mom?" She asked.  
"I just did," Hajimi said, swinging the door open again. The sign read: "Gone With Hitonomi. I Love You." The girls smiled and together the three of them left Konohagakure. Just as they were about to lose sight of it, Hitonomi stopped and looked back. She thought about what had happened in the last few days and smiled.  
"Thank you Konoha." she whispered.  
"Hitonomi-san! You comming?" Mitsukai called. Hitonomi smiled at her new friends and quickly ran to catch up.  
"Let's go." She said. Then she turned around and walked backwards as she smiled at the duo. "You're going to love Otogakure!" She exclaimed. Mitsukai smiled.  
"It can't be worse than this place!" Hajimi said with a grin. Hitonomi laughed.


	20. Chapter 20

I Will Forgive, But I Won't Forget

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I borrow in this story.

* * *

Kakashi sighed as he sat in his bed reading Mitsukai's note.  
'_Dear Father,  
I'm sorry I had to leave so suddenly. I wish I could have said goodbye in person, but that wasn't possible. I really do hope you don't hate Hitonomi. Or Hajimi-chan.  
Or me.  
Hitonomi doesn't deserve it. She's actually very kind. She just has a lot to deal with that no one in Konoha can even imagine. She's getting better. She just needs friends. I'm going give that to her.  
Hajimi needs this too. He's had to work twice as hard for half the respect that most Hyuugas get at birth. It's not right. He's better than all of them. He should be a jonin like us, but no one ever respected him enough to see his true potential. Neji really lost something when he disowned him. Konoha isn't good for him. Maybe Otogakure will be. Hitonomi sure is.  
I don't like how things are working here since Hitonomi arrived. The problem isn't her. It's me and this town. Seeing how far Konoha would go to get one person. It's not right and I'll never be able to live here and be happy after realizing that. Please do me a favor and take over my squad. I know my kids and you're the only one I'll trust them with.  
I love you  
Mitsukai_'  
Kakashi sighed again and grabbed the kunai she left behind. It was her first kunai. The one he had given her for her birthday when she decided to enter the academy. And she left it behind. Kakashi smiled.  
"Good luck Mitsukai." He whispered.  
Hanabi got up as she normally did. She opened her eyes and got dressed, a shinobi to the heart even if she had left that life to care for Hajimi. When she went to check in on him, though, there was a sign on his door. Training again. She had tried to convince him to sleep at night like a... wait. The sign was different. She came closer to read it, her eyes glazing over somewhat as she did so. After a few moments, she realized that she was holding the sign and drpped it, letting it hang on the nail again. She decided that she needed some coffee and went downstairs.

* * *

Tsunade smiled contently as she sat in the chair by the window in her hospital room. She was watching the sunrise as she wondered what was going to happen to Hitonomi, Hajimi, and Mitsukai. She sighed contently. '_Hitonomi... I don't think you were ever an evil ninja. You were just a lost little girl trying to find her way. I wish you the best of luck now that you believe me to be dead. May you finally be able to find peace._'She thought.  
"So they're all gone? To Otogakure?" Naruto looked down at his desk in frustration, but didn't talk any further.  
"Yes, Hokage-sama. Hajimi left a note." Naruto's head tipped to the side.  
"Do you have this note with you?"  
"No, Hokage-sama. I left it where it was. I felt that that was the way it should be." Naruto nodded, and turned to Kakashi.  
"Mitsukai's gone as well?" Kakashi nodded.  
"Mitsukai left a note also. Well I suppose it's more of a letter." He said in his usual laid-back personality.  
"And the contents of the letter?" Naruto asked. Kakashi pulled out the letter and handed it to the hokage, deciding to let him read it and chose if everyone should hear it. Naruto nodded, handed the letter back, and began to speak. "The letter very nicely calls us all idiots," he said, letting the insult sink in slightly before continuing. "I, personally, have to agree with it. We had a single enemy, and we put forth everything to destroy it, without even checking to see if the person really was an enemy. May we learn from this other news, I talked wih Tsunade. Hitonomi inflicted a nearly fatal wound upon her- almost certainly fatal, if it weren't for the quick work of Konoha medic-nin," he nodded to Ino. "It's Tsunade-sama's belief that Hitonomi has left believing that she's dead, and that the belief should be enough to pacify her." Ino nodded her thanks to Naruto.  
"Tsunade-shishou believes that whatever drives her to kill has been slowly dying out. She's certain that as long as Hitonomi believes her to be dead, she'll have the time she needs for that drive to die out completely. With no chance of restoration." Ino added.  
"So we are to leave Otogakure alone. Is everyone agreed?"Nearly everyonenodded. However some were not so willing. "Neji?" Naruto asked.  
"I don't see why you feel you need my input. Everyone has put down all of my opinions as prejudice lately."  
"Including Mitsukai, apparantly," said Naruto. "There was something in the letter about your extraordinary idiocy. About how leaving Hajimi behind was the dumbest thing that she's ever seen." Neji folded his arms and sulked. "So it's agreed. Konohagakure is to take no military action against Otogakure. Dismissed."

* * *

As everyone left the office, all their minds were with the trio who had left Konoha. Were they alright? How far away were they right now? Would they ever see each other again? Kakashi and Anko walked together to greet his new team as they wished Mitsukai happiness in her new home. Hanabi walked home, ready to move on from her old life. She wished Hajimi luck in finding where he belonged. She knew Hitonomi would keep her promise to keep him safe. Neji watched Hanabi go and thought about the son he could have had. He told himself he would never admit it, but he now knew he might have been wrong about the boy. Everyone else was thinking about Hitonomi. They were all ashamed of their actions and had finally learned that not everything was as it seems. Some illusions you couldn't undo with a jutsu. You had to see them through. As Naruto watched his ninja return to their lives, he could only hope that Konoha would not forget this much needed lesson. He nodded in respect to the direction he believed the trio had gone.  
"Thank you, Hitonomi-san." He whispered to the dawn. It was the most beautiful sunrise the town had ever seen.

* * *

Hitonomi sat against a tree as she tried to catch her breathe. For some reason, she had practicly collapsed a few hours after they left Konoha. It was unexplainable to Mitsukai and duo sat whispering some distance away from her.  
"She wasn't nearly this tired after the fight with Jiraiya," Hajimi said. Mitsukai shook her head.  
"I don't think this is from the fight." She whispered as she glanced at Hitonomi. "She has had terrible things happen in her past. And the body transfer jutsu was taught to her at such a young age, she didn't have the skills necessary to supress everyone her father had. She's been trying to let them die. I think.... I think we're witnessing the last of her father's chakra leave her." Mitsukai said to Hajimi.  
"Oh, is that all?" Hajimi asked, taking some jerky from his pocket. Mitsukai glared at him and then smirked as she snatched a piece of the jerky, taking a bite.  
"She'll be fine soon enough." She mumbled, more to herself than anything else.  
"Exactly," said Hajimi, chewing on the jerky. Almost as if on que, Hitonomi's breathing slowed and she seemed more relax. A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and smiled at the duo.  
"I want some jerky!" She said happily. Mitsukai laughed as she went over to help Hitonomi up. Hajimi grudgingly handed over more of his jerky.  
"So are you good to start moving again?" he asked. Hitonomi took the jerky and then nodded as she took a bite.  
"I feel great. I haven't felt this good since I was thirteen!" She exclaimed as they started walking again.  
Kabuto groaned when he heard the approahing chattering voice, and got up from the herb patch to walk over to the approaching group.  
"Welcome back, Otokage-sama," he said, his voice devoid of enthusiasm. Hitonomi stopped talking to glare at Kabuto. "The two of you should put your sound headbands on. I didn't realize we were that close to Otogakure." She said to Hajimi and Mitsukai. They quickly went to grab them as Hitonomi turned back to Kabuto. "Remind me again why you can't grow these inside the village?" She said coldly.  
"They don't take to cultivation," Kabuto said bitingly. "Wild is the only way." Hajimi looked at Kabuto carefully until he was done putting on his forehead protector. He leaned over to Mitsukai.  
"I wonder who Four-Eyes is," he said. Mitsukai smirked. Hitonomi smiled and turned around.  
"This is Kabuto. He was my father's right-hand-man while he was alive. Now he's Otogakure's top medic. Kabuto, this is Mitsukai-chan and Hajimi-chan. Be nice." She said sarcastically. For the first time since seeing Kabuto, Hajimi smiled.  
"Medic? Wow," he said, "I've always wanted to be a medic. It's so practical. How'd you manage to figure it out? It took me a week to get it straight."  
"My father was a mortician," Kabuto responded coldly.  
"Ah, that explains it," Hajimi said, looking Kabuto up and down and making a face.  
"My name's Hajimi, by the way. Hyuuga Hajimi."  
"Welcome, then, Hyuuga Hajimi. I hope you enjoy your stay here," Kabuto said, giving a venomous smile.  
"I'm glad you hope so because I'm still trying to figure out where they're going to stay until I can get all the details settled about their own places so Hajimi might be staying with you." Hitonomi said as she tried not to laugh. Mitsukai smiled.  
"As long as I don't have to bunk with him," Hajimi said as he started to walk. "The village is this way, right?" Hitonomi smiled and nodded.  
"Let's go Mitsukai." She said and the girls started walking with Hajimi as Kabuto finished picking his herbs. The trio stopped walking as the reached the top of a hill overlooking the village.  
"There it is. Otogakure, the village hidden sound village." Hitonomi said affectionately. The village looked so small compaired to Konoha, but small wasn't the word to describe it. It was more like... quaint. There was no walls around it, just fields and then forest some distance away. There was no tower or anything signifying where the otokage would be, so no one would ever believe this to be a ninja village.  
"wow." Mitsukai whispered.  
"One could do worse for home sweet home," Hajimi said as he looked out at the village. Hitonomi rolled her eyes, but continued to smile.  
"Trust me, you're gonna love it. It's not much compared to Konoha, but it's worth so much more." Hitonomi said sweetly and started her descent down the hill towards home.  
"I've got two friends, an enemy, and a fresh start. Of course I'm going to love it," Hajimi said with a smile. Mitsukai smiled.  
"I would never be happy again in Konoha. After seeing how you reacted to the children to how they reacted, I'm willing to bet this will be better." Mitsukai said as she walked with her two friends. Hitonomi giggled.  
"Wait until you meet the kids." She said. Hajimi and Mitsukai stopped walking.  
"Kids?" They said, confused. Hitonomi walked until she was in the middle of one of the fields and then whistled very loudly, like a bird call only no bird sounds like that. After a few minutes, a bunch of children ran out and crowded around Hitonomi, laughing.  
"Hitonomi-san!"  
"Hito-san, you're back!" several children exclaimed. Hitonomi smiled at each of of them before smiling back at Hajimi and Mitsukai.  
"Welcome home." She said sweetly. Hajimi and Mitsukai both smiled back to her, wordless. This place could definitely be a home.


End file.
